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Does iTunes back up the photos in Camera Roll (I dont' want to)

I cannot tell by looking at the backup directory:
000fedef571355d601a4cf0121b97f99cf5820a1
004437563ac4cb73483ace918d792b26036bdca1
01e19a17ecdb9269645cf28ab7b69bf1ff88a2c5
02923b5c0659e253e21d4dd719123ac0dbb5f8ee
0472b55320820add63b2da54e2f8caa2be791c91
04746004b7dbef88d56b3ef097e6d8c9ff17f30e

My problem is I copy them to the computer as soon a I shoot them (like from any other camera), so I do not to waste space on my hard drive backing them up via iTunes too.

iPhone 3gs, iOS 4

Posted on Jul 13, 2010 8:14 PM

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7 replies

Jul 13, 2010 8:23 PM in response to unixnerd09

Photos and videos in the Camera Roll are included with your iPhone's backup which is updated by iTunes as the first step during the iTunes sync process, but if you delete the photos and/or videos from the Camera Roll after the import process is complete and do the import before syncing your iPhone with iTunes, there will be no photos and/or videos in the Camera Roll to be included with your iPhone's backup.

If you want any of the imported photos and/or videos available on your iPhone for viewing, you can transfer the photos or video from your computer via the iTunes sync/transfer process, which is selected under the Photos tab for your iPhone sync preferences with iTunes.

Jul 14, 2010 5:00 PM in response to Allan Sampson

Thanks, I can delete them after import, but I don't always remember to import the pics before syncing the iPhone. I usually sync after buying music or apps, and import after taking pics that I want backed up right away (which can happen at different times).

I would rather delete the iTune-camera roll back up manually, but obviously I cannot do it because the
iPhone backup doesn't have a folder structure.

I think they did a really bad job with the iPhone back up, Very rigid and confusing. By comparison, the Time machine on my Mac is the best backup software I ever used. You can exclude directories, and if you are curious and cd to the backup, you see the same directory structure.

Jul 14, 2010 5:17 PM in response to unixnerd09

Thanks, I can delete them after import, but I don't always remember to import the pics before syncing the iPhone. I usually sync after buying music or apps, and import after taking pics that I want backed up right away (which can happen at different times).


You're welcome.

If you sync prior to importing the photos and removing the photos after the import process is complete, the next time you sync your iPhone's backup will be updated to reflect the photos removed from your iPhone after the import process. Unless you regularly have a significant number of photos available in your iPhone's Camera Roll in between the syncs and photo import, this shouldn't make much difference. Are you running short on available hard drive space?

If this is important to you, you need to adapt a little and import the photos from your iPhone's Camera Roll first followed by deleting the photos from the Camera Roll after the import process is complete before syncing. This way no photos in your Camera Roll will be included with your iPhone's backup. If you don't do this every time, the next time you sync after importing and removing the photos from the Camera Roll will be reflected with your iPhone's backup.

Does iTunes back up the photos in Camera Roll (I dont' want to)

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