After discovering that I couldn’t restore notes from iCloud to my new iPad I set about discovering if there was a way I could recover the notes I had backed up through iTunes. It turns out that there is indeed a fairly straight forward process.
Why am I in this predicament?
When I first booted the iPad I did not restore from my previous version and I initially turned iCoud off. This meant that I had a virgin iPad that I then proceeded to load with apps. Some time later I realised that I had no previous notes! There doesn’t seem to be a way to restore notes from a backup that was made on another iOS device, so that means you need to be a little bit creative in your approach to getting to the data.
If like me you have had several iOS devices the chances are you have loads of data backed up on your computer from those devices, but there is no easy way to read this data. You therefore need to install a couple of apps that make this process easy.
Step 2: Launch iPhone Backup Extractor and click on the “Read Backups” button and proceed to choose which backup you wish to recover. At this point you you need to select the “Extract” button which will ask you to select a target folder to place the extracted files into.
Click on read backups and choose which backup you wish to recover
Select iOS files and extract
Specify where you want the extracted files to go
Step 3: You now need to launch MesaSQLite which you will use to read the data in your iOS backup. If it doesn’t automatically ask “which database would you like to open?” go to File > Open Database and navigate to the folder you extracted your iOS backup to. As we are going to recover notes, you need to navigate to iOS Files > Library > Notes > and choose notes.sqlite
Step 4: Near the top left, where it says “Table Name”, select “ZNOTEBODY” and below that select “ZCONTENT”. Next select “contains” and finally hit “search”. This will return any notes that have been backed up to your Mac. From here, simply double click on the text and copy and paste into a text editor and save your note.
If you know of an easier way to do this please do share your knowledge in the comments below.
I ordered an iPad when Apple had their Black Friday sale and to be honest I was not sure I really needed it or would actually like it. Remember that I ditched the iPhone for Android!
First impressions of the iPad were not good. It’s heavy and the aluminium back make it cold to touch and without a case it can on occasion dig into your hands and give the impression of being sharp. However, these initial thoughts on the iPad’s form factor was quickly squashed after using the device.
I have a 10″ netbook which I have enjoyed using for two years. While it is a pain with some tasks, overall it has been £250 well spent and continues to serve a purpose today. How then can a £390 10″ iPad compete with that?
To put it simply, it not only competes with, but out muscles the netbook on many levels. I have never been so taken with a device, even my first iPhone was not as compelling as this iPad.
After un-boxing, which is always a joy with Apple products, I fully charged the iPad and after a couple of hours synced it with iTunes and got all my apps (that I had previously used on my iPhone) on to the device.
Now I faced a dilema: I would now have two portable devices running similar (if not the same) apps, therefore did I really need the iPad?
Quick answer: YES! Immediately the device becomes second nature.
If I want to read the news headlines at breakfast, I reach for the iPad;
If I want to check twitter, I reach for the iPad;
If I want to check email, I reach for the iPad;
When I want to draft a blog post, I reach for the iPad;
I’ve got meetings at work, I load up the iPad with the relevant documents;
If I want to make edits or touch up photos, yes you guessed it, I reach for the iPad.
So what makes the iPad so compelling?
The battery life is just awesome . It seems to last for days.
Instant on. Just like your iPod, this thing is just in standby and as soon as you unlock the screen you’re good to go.
Screen. While not the retina display seen on the iPhone 4, the current iPad screen is still really good. NB not good in bright sunshine, but that’s not an issue for me in Belfast!
The speakers are surprisingly good e.g. handy for the bathroom or listening to in the holiday apartment.
Built-in microphone. Seriously, skype has never been so easy. You can even do one way video.
Apps – the app ecosystem on iOS is really good and there are plenty of good apps that utilise the iPad’s full potential e.g. flipboard, filterstorm2.
I could really go on and on, but this is a mini review and after the above the iPad comes into its own when you discuss individual apps, which I plan to do at a later date.
Would I recommend one? Absolutely, but I’d wait until the next generation which should be announced in the next couple of months. Also keep in mind that Android 3.0 has been announced which looks to be a really cool tablet operating system and will give the iPad a run for its money.
The Guardian have recently released an iPhone App [iTunes Link] priced at £2.39 and for this small free they are promising to make news available to you on your iPhone for free. What’s more, the App offers off-line viewing, something that really is worth paying for.
So how does this compare to The Guardian’s mobile site?
I have to admit that I was dubious about how good this App could be, given that the mobile site worked very well and The Guardian provide most (if not all) of their stories via RSS, therefore, do we need to spend £2.39. The short answer is YES!
The UI is pretty and uncomplicated, the product does what it’s supposed i.e. serve up news and with off-line reading I can load the paper before I board a flight and read on board.
Pictured below is the home screen which is customisable:
By scrolling to the bottom of the home screen users are presented with photo galleries and the option to read selected columnists:
The App also provides trends and offers a screen dedicated to the most viewed news stories on The Guardian:
One interesting aspect of the App is that it offers the user the opportunity to listen to the latest Guardian podcasts, right within the App:
Sometimes you might just want to browse more sections and you can do that very easily:
Granted there is nothing really new here, everything that is provided I could have read / listened elsewhere, but isn’t that the point? With this App I get it all in one place and The Guardian have made a significant statement: users are prepared to pay to access news. The challenge for the industry is to replicate this and whether charging for the App and offfering free content there after is sustainable. At the time of writing The Guardian App was the highest grossing application in the iTunes Store which would suggest a sizeable proportion of iPhone / iPod Touch owners have purchased the App.
I would recommend this App to anyone.
Here is the official Guardian video to promote the App:
