Rain's on the way and the sun finally took a day off, which makes this a pretty good time to do the thing nobody wants to do: back up your phone. Repairs are usually safe for your data. But "usually" isn't a word you want to bet your baby photos on, so here's the list we'd run through before any repair, downtown or in Chula Vista.
1. Photos and videos
This is the big one. On iPhone, check that iCloud Photos has finished syncing, or plug into a computer and copy them over. On Android, open Google Photos and look for the "backup complete" message. If it says "waiting for Wi-Fi," that's your cue to connect and let it finish. Don't just trust the little cloud icon.
2. Contacts and messages
Contacts usually ride along with your Apple or Google account, so peek at the account settings and make sure sync is on. Texts are trickier. iPhone has Messages in iCloud, and Android has its own backup under Google settings. Neither is magic, so take a minute to confirm the last backup date is recent and not from some other decade.
3. Authenticator apps
Here's the sneaky one. If your two-factor codes live in an authenticator app, they may live only on that phone. Some apps back up to your account, some don't. Before a repair, check how yours works, and save backup codes for the accounts you'd hate to be locked out of: email, banking, anything with your life in it.
4. Passwords and passkeys
If you use iCloud Keychain, Google Password Manager or a separate password app, make sure you know the master login. You'll want it ready in case the phone asks you to sign in again afterward. Writing down the one password you'd never be able to reset is old school, and it works.
5. Chat history in other apps
WhatsApp, Signal and similar apps keep their own backups, separate from the phone's. Open each app's settings, find the chat backup option and run one now. It's a five-minute job that saves a very long afternoon.
6. Anything stuck on the phone only
Voice memos, downloaded files, screenshots of boarding passes, that note with the Wi-Fi password. Scroll your files app and your notes once. You'll find a surprise or two. Move the keepers into the cloud or onto a computer.
7. Your sign-ins
Know your Apple ID or Google account password. Find My and similar locks are great at stopping thieves, and they can also slow down a legit repair if nobody remembers the password. Have it handy and we'll tell you what's needed on the day.
How to tell the backup actually worked
A backup you've never checked is a hope, not a backup. On iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and look at the date of the last backup. On Android, Google's backup screen shows the same thing. Then do one spot check: open Google Photos or iCloud Photos on a laptop or another device and find a picture you took this morning. If it's there, you're in good shape. If it isn't, the sync is stuck, and a repair day is a bad time to find that out.
Cloud, computer or both
Cloud backups are easy, but they depend on storage space and a decent connection, and a free plan fills up faster than anyone expects. If yours is full, copying photos to a computer is a perfectly fine plan B. Plug the phone in, tap "Trust" or allow file transfer when it asks, and drag the folders over. Doing both is the belt-and-suspenders move, and for photos you'd cry over it's worth it.
What if the phone won't even turn on?
Then you can't do most of the above, and that's okay. Tell us when you book. A screen, battery or charging port swap is mostly about parts, not files, so a dead or cracked phone can often be repaired without touching your data. A cloud backup you already have is the safety net, so don't wait for a crisis to set one up.
The five-minute version
Short on time? Do photos, authenticator codes and your main password, in that order. Everything else is easier to rebuild.
We come to you
Whether you're in the Gaslamp, East Village, Little Italy or over in Chula Vista, book a repair and we'll come to you. Bring the phone, keep the backup. We'll handle the rest.