Help with iTunes, iOS 10.0.1 on 32 bit machine

Hi there.

I am the one who kicked this whole thread off a couple of weeks ago. I still have not INSTALLED iOS10 to my iPhone 5s although the upgrade DOWNLOADED itself over-the-air to my phone when it was plugged in overnight within WiFi range. That happened a couple of nights ago and my phone is chomping at the bit to install as it keeps asking me to start the process. It did that several times yesterday.

So, just touching base with you to see if you have experienced any problems since you upgraded to iOS 10 on your phone. Have you done any further syncs/backups to iTunes 12.1.3 since that initial one?

I gather from your comments that the only "unusual" thing was the initial sync/backup to iTunes took longer than usual and there was some sort of memory bounce during the process. Was that pretty much the extent of it?

Bottom line, does everything still appear to be working properly, and would you do it all again if you had it to do over?

CWT

Thanks for the reply. Good to hear that everything is still working for you. My hope (perhaps unrealistic) is that iTunes 12.1.3 was written for those of us with old Windows in such a way that it will accommodate iOS upgrades for an extended period of time into the future. That said, I know that 12.1.3 did not function with iOS9 like it did with all iOS versions prior, but still serves to back up critical data. For example, when I update an app over-the-air on my phone, iTunes does not save that data when I sync, and I have to update the app again in iTunes itself. But that is a small price to pay. Unfortunately, I don't know what else iTunes is not actually copying/saving that is less apparent.

My current status is this...I have backed up my phone to iTunes, but am taking the advice of turingtest2 and backing up to the iCloud also before installing iOS10. Problem right now is that I live way outside of a large city and my internet connection/WiFi is painfully slow, so have yet to accomplish that task. Would like to get that backup-backup made before taking the plunge.

As requested, I will let you know if everything goes well and if (what is very likely) iOS 10.0.2 will still work with iTunes 12.1.3.

Thanks again for the update on your experience.

CWT

Well, since my reply earlier this morning, I tried to backup my phone to iCloud at the library where they supposedly have "fast-er" internet speeds, but was still not successful. That library is also far from a large city, so they have nearly the same problem I do at home with internet speed. Will have to try to do the iCloud backup that touringtest2 suggests sometime when I have better conditions. I do believe that is a smart thing to do in the event the compatibility breaks between iOS and iTunes on my old Windows machine.

At any rate, I DID install iOS 10.0.2 and synced to iTunes 12.1.3. My iPhone was immediately recognized, and was informed the software on the phone was "up to date." The syncing went along without a hitch. Step one "backing up" was a little slower than what I experienced with iOS 9 versions, but that may have been because it was the first time with iOS10. I did NOT seem to experience the extraordinarily long backup that you described on your first go. The progress bar continued to advance throughout the process.

So, at least with my sample of one, it appears that 10.0.2 is compatible with iTunes 12.1.3. Hope it will work for you too, if and when you decide to install most recent .1 to .2 version of iOS 10.0

CWT

Found the following that might address the "complaint" you had about iOS10 and TouchID. I have made the setting change, and it works.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-fix-ios-10s-most-annoying-feature/

Agree, since we both appear to be living close to the edge relative to iTunes support for our old PC's we should stay in touch. touringtest2 also seems like a great resource for us with knowledge and the ability to "test".

I have an iPhone 5s with less starting memory than your phone. Mine is just a 16GB phone. Nevertheless, I do see a drop in available memory when I sync but not on the order of magnitude that you do because of the differences in our phones. Have no idea why the drop.

I am guessing that we may be going about the process a little differently. When I connect my phone to my PC and iTunes, the summary display shows a current memory available. I then click "Sync" to begin with, and it sounds like you click "Back Up" first then "Sync" after the Back Up is complete. The way I do it, Back Up is step 2 of 7 steps in the sync process, and I know it is being done, as the "Last Backup" date/time changes to what is current. I do see a drop in available memory after the Back Up step. When I just sync'd a few minutes ago, that drop was approximately 1GB. Sometime during the 7 step process the memory returned to the starting point.

This momentary memory drop is not new for me as it was also behaving similarly back when my phone was operating on the various iterations of iOS9. Back with iOS9, I would occasionally see the memory jump back up to something close the the original start quantity a few seconds AFTER the sync process was complete. Again, I have no idea why it happened, but I always relieved that the memory jumped back up from its low ebb.

My memory is fuzzy as to whether any of this drop and subsequent restoration of memory was going on prior to iOS9 and the special edition of iTunes for 32 bit machines, or not. I'm much more aware of odd things these days when I feel like I am living on borrowed time relative to my PC and anything Apple.

Hello:

Wanted to keep you updated on progress. Last night my phone downloaded iOS 10.1.1 while it was plugged in and in WiFi range. I backed up the phone to iTunes this morning and installed iOS 10.1.1 and re-synced. iTunes "appears" to be functioning with this latest version of iOS 10 just as it did for the previous updates.

I put "appears" in quotation marks because while iTunes recognized my phone and completed a sync/backup process, I am not entirely certain how fully backed up my phone actually is. I guess the real test would be to set up a new phone via "restore from backup" to know for certain.

The reason for my doubt is that I have added a couple of new apps to my phone over the course of the last few weeks, and they have not been added to the inventory of apps listed in iTunes for my device. Further, when I have updated apps over the air on my phone and then sync'e/backed-up, they do not appear to be refreshing the files in iTunes. Reason I suspect this is because I am given notice in iTunes to update those same apps. This issue has actually been present for me, I believe, since iOS 9 and the patch-worked iTunes that Apple provided to allow 32 bit processor users to upgrade devices to iOS9. So in that respect, this is uncertainty about thoroughness of back-up is not something new or unique to iOS10.

HOWEVER, the fact remains that while the iTunes gives the appearance of backing up my phone, I am in no way absolutely certain that it is backing EVERYTHING up. I an cautiously optimistic, but It may be a false sense of security.

Clearly the solution is to get a computer with newer operating system that will be able to use the latest iTunes versions and not this cobbled together version that may or may not be working with XP and Vista. Cannot make myself cough up the money to do so.

Hope upgrade goes well for you whenever you take the leap.

CWT