GoodReader is a great application for managing and working with PDFs (and many other types of files) on the iPad. It tends to be what I use.
A while ago, I did a little video showing how it works.
At Macworld this year, I had the great fortune to meet up with awesome DocumentSnap reader Donna and she told me about a time that she had to take her computer in to the Apple Store. After a strange chain of events, she ended up losing everything that she had stored in GoodReader on her iPad.
I still am not sure exactly how that could have happened, but I promised that I’d do a blog post about how to back up the documents stored in GoodReader.
As with everything, there are many ways to do this. Here are a few.
iCloud and iTunes Backup
If you have iOS 5 and later, you are in luck. Your GoodReader data may already be backed up for you with your regular iTunes or iCloud backup.
When/if you have your iPad plugged into your computer, check the Backups section in iTunes. There are 1,001 good reasons to make sure that your iPad is being backed up on a regular basis, and backing up your GoodReader data is one of them.
You can also control the iCloud backup settings from the iPad without involving your computer.
You may or may not know this, but you can actually control which applications are backing up to iCloud. Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage and then tap on your iPad. Wait a minute or so, and you’ll see what is backing up and how much storage is being eaten up.
If you can spare the storage, make sure GoodReader is On.
Beware The Downloads Folder
While it is true that GoodReader’s files should be backed up with your regular iPad backup, there is one important caveat.
Starting with iOS 5, there is a special folder in GoodReader called Downloads. Anything stored there is not backed up with the iTunes or iCloud backup.
This is a way to save space, but you will want to make sure that any files that are important to you and that you want backed up are not saved here.
GoodReader Settings
There are some GoodReader settings that can impact this as well. You are able to turn iCloud backup off from GoodReader, and you can stop it from using the Downloads folder by default altogether.
Copy To Dropbox or Other Service
If you don’t have iOS 5 or want to have a bit more control, one of the good things about GoodReader is that it can connect to a whole whack of cloud and local services.
You can automatically synchronize your documents with Dropbox for example, or upload them to an FTP server or a network share on some sort of regular basis.
Copy Manually Through iTunes
You can also use good old iTunes File Transfer. When your iPad is plugged into your computer, go to iTunes, then navigate to your iPad, then click on the Apps tab. Scroll down to the bottom, and you will see the File Sharing section.
Click on GoodReader on the left, and you will see your folders and files. You can then download them to your computer without having to do it over the network.
So, if you run into a situation where you think your GoodReader documents are gone, you may have options. Just take a few minutes every once in a while to make sure that your backup settings are the way that you want them.
