Apple’s iCloud will back up your iDevice’s data, but it doesn’t really let you review what exactly is being backed up. You just have to trust your Cupertino friends that all of it is there.

Anecdote: I got bit a while back when upgrading my wife’s iOS version on her iPhone. After the restore step, no contacts were on the phone (!). I went digging and digging, but the backups didn’t include Contacts. Also, her phone was never properly configured to save to Google or any other service. So the upgrade cost her many contacts that were difficult or impossible to replace. And I’m still paying for it.

If you’re not so trusting of Apple’s backup capabilities, then you’ll be glad to read that IDrive offers a great free service that backs up your Contacts with the tap of a button. And IDrive maintains versions of your backups, so you should be able to dig up bygone contacts many moons from now. Once the backup has been performed, you may use the app to review and restore contacts individually or in batches.

Other IDrive services include backing up your iDevice’s photos and videos (in case you really don’t trust iCloud).

Learn more at the IDrive Web site. There is a comprehensive backup service for your Mac, PC, and smartphones. They offer 5 GB free storage and paid tiers beyond that. There is also a focused service just for Contacts called IDrive Lite.

UPDATE – May 7, 2012

I noticed that the IDrive app was not backing up contacts that were saved exclusively in the iCloud Group.After researching different settings, I came to the conclusion that it just won’t backup the iCloud contacts.  So I looked at the IDrive Lite app, and it will backup contacts from the iCloud Group*. Therefore, I recommend IDrive Lite over its sister app.

* IDrive Lite saves contacts from your iPhone’s default account for Contacts. You set this in the Settings app. Go to Settings/Mail, Contact, Calendars. Scroll down to the Contacts section and tap Default Account. Tap the account you wish to set as your default account. Then you can close the Settings app (press the Home button).

This the the sequel to my post that discussed how to import Google Calendar events into iCloud Calendar without using iCal. Like I said in that post, you have to know how to get your data out of any service into which you put it. So here’s my meager contribution to the world.

1. Log into iCloud Calendar at icloud.com.
2. Publicly share the calendar you wish to export. Click the small circle to the right of the calendar’s name. A dialog box will appear. If it is not already shared, then click the radio button next to Public Calendar and click Share.

   If you’re privately sharing the calendar, you need to stop that first, then share that calendar publicly.

3. The dialog box will update with a URL that begins with webcal:// followed by a fairly cryptic address.
4. Select the URL with your mouse cursor and copy it to your clipboard (right-click and select Copy or press Ctrl+C on your keyboard).
5. Open a new browser tab or window and paste the URL into the address field. DON’T PRESS THE ENTER KEY!
6. Change “webcal” in the pasted URL to “http“.
7. Press Enter. Your browser should initiate a file download. That file will have an extension of ICS. These files can be imported into a wide range of calendar applications and online services.
8. Make sure you return to iCloud Calendar and stop publicly sharing the calendar.

When your iPhone rings, you also have it set to vibrate, right? Wouldn’t it be nice if your significant other had a distinct vibration pattern along with the distinct ringtone? Well, you can with the help of Apple’s built-in accessibility features.

Turn On the Accessibility Feature

1. Go to Settings/General/Accessibility.
2. In the Hearing section turn on Custom Vibrations.

Create and Name Your Custom Vibration Pattern

1. Go to Settings/Sounds.
2. In the Vibration Patterns section, tap Vibration.
3. In the Custom section, tap Create New Vibration.
4. There will be a large area of the screen that says “Tap to create a vibration pattern.” Once you begin pressing on the screen, the iPhone will begin recording the pattern and you will feel the vibration feedback as you record. Press for any length of time. Short. Long. Something in between.
5. When done, tap the Stop button.
6. Tap Play to review your pattern.
7. Tap Save to name and save your pattern.

You’ll note that there are a handful of preset patterns in the Settings app if you don’t want to make your own.

Assign a Vibration Pattern to a Contact

1. Open either the Contacts app or the Phone app and tap Contacts.
2. Select the contact to which you want to assign a custom pattern.
3. Tap Edit.
4. In the same area you assign a ringtone, you can select a vibration, as well.
   You can also create one here, too. You can do that next time, right?
5. Tap Done.
6. Tap Done again.

Now, you’re done!

You can get functionality from Amazon’s CloudPlayer service on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. While you can’t get it in the form of an app, you can get it through Safari. And it supports multitasking, too.

1. Open Safari
2. Visit http://amazon.com/cloudpayer
3. Ignore the warning that your browser is not supported by clicking Continue.
4. Wait for your music to list to load
5. Select a song and click Play.

You can then go into other apps if you wish. Note the Play icon in the top status bar. Also, go into the App Switcher (double-press the Home button) and then swipe left. Notice the iPod button tile/icon is replaced by the one for Safari, and the buttons now control what’s playing in Safari.

Very cool. But watch your data if you’re not on an unlimited plan!