How to Transfer Installed .ipa Packages from iPhone / iPad to your Computer

Have you ever wondered how to back up .ipa games and applications you have installed on your iPhone  or iPad to your computer? If you’ve installed cracked games and applications on your phone or transferred it to your device from another computer using iFunbox or some other tools, iTunes won’t backup these apps and you stand to lose them if you even upgrade or re-install your firmware.

I installed a few games from a friend’s computer a couple of weeks back and I was looking for a way to backup the ipa backup on my computer but all suggestions I saw on blogs and forums didn’t work. I was asked to use Installous but for some funny reasons, it never worked for me. I had to find ways to backup them up since the files were quite heavy and I didn’t want to download them all over again.

As explained here, installous allows you to download cracked ipa games and applications (which I do not encourage) and even the files with iTunes but it may not work for some apps not downloaded through installous.

If you apps are not going to be properly synced, you’ll be notified that existing apps on your device will be removed. Hey., I think your iPhone / iPad is already jailbroken, right?

How to backup and sync downloaded ipa apps with iTunes

- Install installous from Cydia

-  Click on Settings and turn iTunes Sync on

- Now connect your phone, start iTunes.

-  Try to sync the games and apps. If you get a warning that some apps would be removed from your phone you should cancel and use the alternative method below.

Alternative way to sync ipa files with iTunes

- Download and install iFunbox

-Run iFunbox and connect your iPhone or iPad

- Click on User Applications

- Click on CTRL + A to select all your applications or selectively choose the cracked ones you want to back up

- Right-click and select Backup to .ipa Package as shown above

- Save the files to …\My Music\iTunes\Mobile Applications\

- The files are now saved to your iTunes folder and can be synced.

The first method worked perfectly on a friend’s device but it was the second one I actually used that worked for me. With the .ipa files backed up, you won’t need to re-download them the next time you restore your device.