For example, iOS has these features:
- iCloud backup restore or peer-to-peer transfer, very early in the device setup process
- Two ways for things to be stored in iCloud, each with a corresponding list of per-app (not per-folder) toggle switches in iCloud Settings
- “Saved to iCloud” normal syncing
- Requires apps to use the right APIs and to handle conflicting changes
- Allows same data to be read and modified by multiple devices
- iCloud backup
- Available for all apps
- Separate backup per device
- Only downloaded when setting up a new device
- In app sandboxes, only excludes
tmp
(Flatpak equivalent is somewhere in/run
) andLibrary/Caches
(equivalent tocache
directory in Flatpak sandbox) by default - Allows apps to set
isExcludedFromBackup
attribute for specific files (useful for things that are easy to recreate via download but are expected by the user to not be automatically deleted) - Includes system configuration such as home screen layout
- Backs up a list of installed apps without backing up their executables and assets
- “Saved to iCloud” normal syncing
- Synced list of previously installed apps, not separate per-device
deleted by creator