Q: I’ve had a second-generation iPod touch since late 2008 and recently purchased an iPhone 3GS. After syncing the 3GS with iTunes I was able to transfer all my apps with no problem but none of my data (specifically game saves) was transferred. Is there any way to sync game save data between iPhones (or iPod touch in this case). It is frustrating to have to restart progress on all these games.
– Hector
A: Although there is no way to transfer specific game and other application data between multiple devices, you can easily migrate this data to a new device simply by restoring the backup from your previous device. Since the iPod touch and iPhone both run the same basic OS, the backups made from the iPod touch are compatible with the iPhone and you can easily restore your backups between devices.
To do this, simply connect your iPod touch to your computer and right-click on it where it appears in the Devices listing in iTunes. An option to “Restore from Backup” should appear on the context menu.
Selecting the “Restore” option will display another dialog box prompting you to choose which backup you wish to restore. If you have more than one backup, select the one that most closely matches the last date that you synced your previous iPod touch.
Note that this is an all-or-nothing procedure. Restoring from backup will overwrite any existing settings and application data on your device with the data in the backup. Once the restore completes, however, any data from third-party applications that were on your iPod touch should now show up on your iPhone.