How to back up data in non-Apple apps on iPad?

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How to back up data in non-Apple apps on iPad?

I am migrating to a new iPad. Is there a way to make sure that the data in non-Apple 3rd party apps is safely backed up or saved on my Mac?

I found a 2023 Community iPhone discussion that said you have to rely on the 3rd party to back up your data on its servers. A side effect is that if you no longer have an account with that 3rd party or that app is no longer available, you will likely lose all that data, purchased or not.

I lost 3rd party data the last time I bought an iPad, so I'm hoping I can avoid it this time, and that maybe Apple has kindly given us a way to do this now?

Fingers crossed, and thanks for any help you can provide.

-mj

iPad Pro, iPadOS 18

Posted on May 6, 2025 8:17 AM

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Answer 1

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Phil0124

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231,226 points

May 6, 2025 8:39 AM in response to mjlee

3rd party Apps either backup themselves directly to iCloud, backup data to their servers or are backed up by the general iPad backup either to iCloud or to a computer. Each App developer chooses what method to use.

Apple has always by default backed up any local data for Apps in the general device backup.

If the App is using an account and backing up to their own servers, then logging in to that account again should restore its data. In these cases the data is not usually backed up to iCloud.

For anything else, just backing up the iPad entirely to iCloud to a computer should include the app data.

When restoring said backup, the data should return.

To see which apps are using iCloud for Backup, you can go to Settings ➜ Account ➜ iCloud ➜ Apps (See All) and it will provide a list of all apps that backup their data to iCloud.

To see which apps are included in the general iCloud backup, Settings ➜ Account ➜ iCloud ➜ iCloud Backup ➜ All Device Backups ➜ Select a device. It will list Apps being backed up. Tap on "Show All Apps" to see all the apps that get backed up.

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Answer 2

mjlee Author

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42 points

May 8, 2025 4:39 PM in response to Phil0124

Thank you so much for this info! Now that I see the iCloud info, it looks like most 3rd party apps are backing up configuration type info to icloud, not app data. So I guess I have to work with each app developer to see if I can export any of the app data to a personal local drive. Or, i can just trust their servers to never fail. 😁

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How to back up data in non-Apple apps on iPad?

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