Encrypted vs. non-encrypted backup in size

[Commodore]

I've only recently checked the option in iTunes to make the backup on the computer disk encrypted. Does it also compress it somehow, as I'm noticing that it takes less than 3 GB now, as opposed to before when it was around 8 GB? (Unless it's an incremental backup, in which case I have no clue where the "original first" backup is.)

 

[Livy86]

Hi, an encrypted backup is the same as an unencrypted one, just that it keeps your data safe, it requires a password to open it/restore to the device. Also, there's usually only one backup folder that iTunes keeps, so if it's different in size you might have moved some data off your device to the computer before backing up. You can check in the default backup folder to see if you have more backups, they should list the dates on them as well. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, go to: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\AppleComputer\MobileSync\Backup\ Hope this helps!

 

[Commodore]

Nope, just one backup, it's about 2.66 GB now. All of the data on my device is currently at about 14 GB -- but even without counting some of the media files it would be around 8 GB (as my first, non-encrypted backup was). Any way to reset it, or make it from scratch, just to be on the safe side?

 

[joeyteel]

Nope, just one backup, it's about 2.66 GB now. All of the data on my device is currently at about 14 GB -- but even without counting some of the media files it would be around 8 GB (as my first, non-encrypted backup was). Any way to reset it, or make it from scratch, just to be on the safe side?

In your iTunes preferences on the Devices section you can delete the backup and force it to make a new one. However it's not unusual for an iTunes backup to shrink when encrypted (although your difference does seem a bit extreme) because the encryption process does compress the data some as a side effect of the encryption method used

 

[Commodore]

Well, I accidentally discovered the reason for the size discrepancy. It's app data. I removed a lot of multimedia files from an app (an alternative media player), so the next backup was smaller, and I just happened to chose encryption at around the same time (what made me think that was the reason). Today I went the opposite way, by copying some music to an alternative player on my iPhone, and the backup is huge. :S
So... Is there any way to exclude an app (or at least its data) from the backup? I can see using alternative media players can make the whole backup procedure longer (not to mention the enormous disk space "cost").

 

[Commodore]

And months later, I learn the hard way that the backup doesn't store everything at all. It appears I need to have *all* IPA files (pertaining to the apps installed in the backup "image" being restored) in /iTunes/Mobile Applications folder on the computer, if I want the restore to work 100%. :S For some reason iTunes just yammered about apps not being restored because they couldn't be found on the disk. Any special reason why the process doesn't simply pull those apps from the "cloud"?
(It's ok because I do have them, but they're at another location and I'll be able to do the rest of the restore in a few days. But it is kind of stupid. Especially considering that IPA files on the computer disk keep piling up if you try lots of freebies and promos, and 60-70 GB just to keep them there is a bit too much.)