App Backup and Restore

General information

This App version allows you to back up your card data, readings and notes in two different ways, by email or through iTunes. Each time you Add a Card or complete a 4-Card Reading, you will receive a quick reminder. We recommend that you back up your data regularly, especially after adding cards, readings or notes, before exiting the App.

Important Note: The iTunes application has been discontinued on the Mac and there is a new way to perform Backup and Restore using the Finder file management system. Please scroll to the bottom of this page for instructions if your Mac no longer supports iTunes.

This will enable you to recover the data in case your mobile device should be lost or damaged, or the data should become corrupted for some reason.

It is also possible to use the Backup and Restore feature to transfer your data to another device, if it has the App installed.

Topics covered in this section: How to perform email backup – Email backup notes – How to connect to iTunes – How to perform backup through iTunes – How to restore your data – How to transfer data to a newly purchased device

How to perform email backup

1. Tap the Help/Backup button on the Home Screen. This will start the process of preparing your backup files. The files are compressed as a zip file, to conserve space. 
   
2. Tap the “Backup” arrow in the upper right margin of the Help/Backup screen, and you will scroll automatically down to the backup link.
   
3. Tap “Export App Data as Backup” and you will see an alert asking you if you wish to send the backup file via email.
   
4. Tap YES, then follow the instructions, and the backup email will be sent. NOTE: If you backup file is greater than 25 MB, email backup is not available, and you should use iTunes backup.

When you receive the email, which contains your data as an attachment, download the attachment and save it in a special folder on your computer. We recommend that you change the name of the backup file on your computer by adding “1” or “2”, etc., so that you can keep multiple generations of backup.

It is important to perform this download, as you may lose access to your email attachments after some period of time, depending upon the policies of your email provider.

Email backup notes

When you have only a small number of cards, the backup will happen quickly, and the email with the backup attachment will arrive soon after you send it. As the number of cards becomes larger, the attachment becomes larger, and you may see delays of an hour or more before the backup arrives in your inbox. This is a function both of the email provider which is used on your device to send the email, and the email provider where you receive the email.

NOTE: Some users have reported problems with email backup when their email provider has a lower limit on attachments than 25 MB. In this case, you will have to perform your backup using iTunes.

How to connect to iTunes

1. You must have a PC or Mac with iTunes installed. From here on, we will refer to this as the “Mac” but everything applies to the PC as well. Click here to download and install iTunes if you do not already have it installed on your Mac.
   
2. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac, using the USB cable which normally connects to the charger. From here on, we will refer to the iPhone or iPad as the “device”. Connecting the device should automatically launch the iTunes program on the Mac and the device should begin syncing with iTunes. Various other windows may appear on the Mac, asking if you want to update your iOS or perform other functions. You should say NO to these (but update later as necessary). If the iTunes program does not launch, start it manually, then unplug the device and reconnect it to your computer. You will see messages flashing at the top of the iTunes window indicating the progress. 
   Wait until the synchronization process is complete.
   
3. In the top left corner of the screen, a tiny icon for your device will appear. It is quite difficult to find. Please refer to Screenshot #1 below for help in locating this icon. Now click on this icon.
   
4. This will bring you to a new screen in the iTunes window on the Mac, with a Summary of the information about your device. Under Options, check the box “Open iTunes when this device is connected” so that iTunes will launch automatically in the future. Now click on “Apps” in the column on the left (NOTE: On some versions of iTunes “Apps” will not appear, and you will click on “File Sharing“).
   
5. Scroll down to the very bottom of the iTunes page on the Mac, where you will see the File Sharing window. Single click the SoulCollage App to highlight it.

How to perform backup through iTunes

First, follow the instructions above on how to connect your device to iTunes and to navigate to the section of iTunes where Backup and Restore are performed. Then, perform the following steps:

1. On your device (which is now connected to iTunes on the Mac) tap “Help/Backup” on the Home Screen. Then tap the “Backup” arrow in the upper right margin of the screen. The screen will automatically scroll down to the backup section. Now tap “Export app data as backup”. Answer NO when it asks if you want to perform email backup.
   
2. In the “SoulCollage Documents” window in iTunes on the Mac, on the right, highlight the “Backup” folder.
   
3. Be sure the folder is highlighted, then click “Save to…” at the bottom right corner of the window.
   
4. In the new window which pops up on the Mac, navigate to the folder where you want to store your Backup data for the App, then click “Select Folder”. Your backup data will now be stored as a zip file in the folder you have chosen.
   
5. (Recommended!) Change the name of the backup file on your computer by adding “1” or “2”, etc., so that you can keep multiple generations of backup.

How to restore your data

Before restoring your data, please remember that any data which is currently on the device will be erased, and replaced by the data from the backup file.

1. Locate the most recent backup file, which was downloaded from your most recent email backup or backed up through iTunes.
   
2. The backup is contained in a compressed “zip” file which must be unzipped in order to be used. On most operating systems, this is accomplished by right clicking on the file name. Select “extract” or “unzip” or “decompress” or a function with a similar name from the menu which appears. This will bring up a window which contains a suggested path for the new folder which will be created. Click “OK” and the zip file will be unzipped into a new folder which will be created within the folder which contains the zip file. (NOTE: On some operating systems, you can simply click on the zip file and it will automatically bring up a view which shows a folder with the unzipped files). Inside the new folder, you will find many individual files: one for each card image, and one sqlite file named “SoulCollage” which contains all of the notes and reading data.
   
3. See the instructions above to connect your device to iTunes on your Mac.
   
4. In the lower right corner of the File Sharing window on the Mac, click “Add”. This will bring up a window where you can navigate to find the folder which contains the unzipped backup files. Highlight ALL of these files. (Hold down the shift key and click on the topmost file, then, still holding the shift key, click on the bottommost file, and all of the files should be highlighted). Be sure to highlight all of the files, including the sqlite file at the bottom. Note that you cannot simply highlight the folder which contains the unzipped files, as the App will not recognize the folder. You must open the folder and select all of the individual files themselves, as per the above.
   
5. Now click “Open” at the bottom of the window which contains the highlighted files. You should see the names of all these files appear in the SoulCollage Documents window in iTunes. These files are now prepared to be restored to the App on your mobile device. You should see an image file for each card, plus the sqlite file which contains all the notes.
   
6. Be sure that all of the files from the backup folder have appeared in the SoulCollage Documents window in iTunes on the Mac. Then go to the Help/Backup screen of the App on the mobile device, tap the “Backup” icon in the upper right margin to scroll to the backup and restore section, then tap “Restore App Data from Backup”.
   
7. Restore will now be implemented and your backup data will transfer to the mobile device and replace the existing data. You can now disconnect the device from the computer and continue using the App.
   
8. If you receive an error message, it is most likely because all of the necessary files were not loaded into the SoulCollage Documents window in iTunes. The App analyzes the files to be sure there are the proper number of image files to match the notes, and makes several other checks for validity. Please reload the files and try again. If the problem persists, you can go to an earlier backup and try to restore from that.

How to transfer data to a newly purchased device from an existing device.

If you are upgrading to a new phone or other device to replace your old one, you should transfer the App data directly to the new device by using the Apple Quick Start method, in which you transfer the entire contents of the old device directly to the new one by placing the devices near each other and having them talk directly to each other.

On the other hand, if you use the old method to load the new device by downloading the data from the iCloud, the App data will NOT be loaded onto the new device, and you will have to restore the data onto the new device from your most recent backup. So, to make things easy, be sure to use the Quick Start method for moving all of your information and apps (including App data) to the new device.

In any case, be SURE to perform a backup of the App data on your device before doing the transfer and before erasing the contents of your old device, just in case something goes wrong in the process.
Instructions on using the Quick Start method can be found here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210216

How to Backup and Restore on a Mac without iTunes

The iTunes application has been discontinued on the Mac, however it is still possible to back up and restore App data using a Mac. The procedure is similar to the previous one using iTunes, but uses the file management system in Finder instead. The procedure is as follows:

1. Connect the iOS device to the Mac, using a standard USB cable. Answer Yes to any messages which appear on the device or the Mac to “trust this device” or to allow syncing.
2. After syncing is complete, open the Finder application on the Mac and scroll down in the menu on the left to the Locations section. The name of the device and its icon should appear there.
3. Click on the icon for the device, and then click on the Files tab near the top in the main part of the page.
4. Scroll down in the list of Apps and click on the small arrow to the left of the SoulCollage® App. A new line should open below, with the file Backup appearing.
5. To perform Backup, open the SoulCollage® App on the device, click Help/Backup and scroll to the bottom. Then click on Export App Data as Backup. This will ensure that the latest version of your data will appear in the Finder window as in #4 above. Now simply drag the Backup file from the Finder window to your desktop or to the folder in your file system where you keep your App backups and rename the file to include the date and whatever other information you wish to record.
6. To Restore App data to your device, locate the most recent backup file, which was downloaded from your most recent email backup or backed up through iTunes or by using step #5 above.
7. The backup is contained in a compressed “zip” file which must be unzipped in order to be used. On most operating systems, this is accomplished by right clicking on the file name. Select “extract” or “unzip” or “decompress” or a function with a similar name from the menu which appears. This will bring up a window which contains a suggested path for the new folder which will be created. Click “OK” and the zip file will be unzipped into a new folder which will be created within the folder which contains the zip file. (NOTE: On some operating systems, you can simply click on the zip file and it will automatically bring up a view which shows a folder with the unzipped files). Inside the new folder, you will find many individual files: one for each card image, and one sqlite file named “SoulCollage” which contains all of the notes and reading data.
8. Highlight ALL of these files. (Hold down the shift key and click on the topmost file, then, still holding the shift key, click on the bottommost file, and all of the files should be highlighted). Be sure to highlight all of the files, including the sqlite file at the bottom.
9. Now drag all of these files into the SoulCollage® App line of the Finder window. If you have successfully highlighted them, you can drag them all at once. (The process of dragging can be easier if you hold down the Option key while dragging. This makes it easier to grab and drag the selected group of files without deselecting them). The space below the App line should open up and you should see all of the many files listed there. (Note that you cannot simply drag the folder which contains the unzipped files, as the App will not recognize the folder. You must open the folder and drag the individual files themselves, as per the above). Wait until all of the files appear.
10. Now open the App in the iOS device, click on Help/Backup, scroll to the bottom and click on Restore App Data from Backup. You will have to answer a series of questions to confirm that you want to proceed with the Restore process, which will erase the existing card data within the App. So please be sure that you have performed the necessary backup, before attempting to Restore with new card data.

Screenshot #1: Finding the Device icon in iTunes

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