2 things to do before disaster strikes your iPhone

A car ran over my iPhone 4S yesterday morning, smashing the glass to smithereens. This morning, I went off to meet with a client equipped with a new phone that had all my settings, contacts, email, and calendar.

That’s because I’d done two very important things:

1. I’d bought AppleCare+, which includes coverage for two accidents.

2. I’d backed up my iPhone. I’ve set my computer, iPad and iPhone to back up to iCloud automatically — but you can set your iPhone to sync and back up via iTunes whenever you connect to your computer, thus avoiding having to pay for more than the minimum iCloud space.

After the accident occurred, I used the (still-functional!) iPhone to make a same-day appointment (via the Apple Store app) at the Apple Store to switch the wrecked phone for a new one (cost: $49).

I switched phones at the Apple Store that evening. When I got the new iPhone home and onto the WiFi system, all my basic stuff poured out of the iCloud into the phone while I slept. Re-installing the apps was a separate process — almost as easy, but much slower. I made sure that any app critical to today’s onsite work for a client got re-installed first. Tonight the rest of the apps are trickling onto the device.

Bottom line: This was so much easier on my life, my work, and my budget than having to buy a new iPhone at full price and then trying to reconstruct the settings for all my apps.

The real pain was having to admit to the folks at the Apple Store that I’d lost my phone and had figured out where it was only after a friend had backed a car over it (that, and having a few phone conversations Sunday during which tiny pieces of glass from the phone were falling into my ear).

The Apple Genius who processed my AppleCare+ replacement made me feel a little bit better.

“Oh,” she said. “This is so weird. The customer  just before you had her iPhone run over by a car, too.”

Apparently, iPhones and iPads, particularly ones in good cases (mine was a chunky rubber Speck PixelSkin) manage to survive being run over by cars — the glass is crazed, but the touchscreen interface still works. If yours survives this type of accident, back it up immediately if it’s not already backed up via iCloud.