iTunes and deleted games 'save states'

Hi all,

Probably not the first time it's been moaned about here, but couldn't see any threads on it. Just wondered if any devs can shed any light on Apple's mystifying attitude towards deleting an app from your iPhone.

There's loads of games on my phone that I don't really play any more but if I delete them from the phone the save states are gone forever. If I choose to re-install them from iTunes individually when I feel like having another go, I have to start from scratch.

Given the iPhone/iPod touch's emergence as a mobile gaming platform to be reckoned with, doesn't it seem extremely short-sighted and awkward of Apple to not make a copy of the save states to the computer-based copies of the apps when you sync the device? I know that syncing also creates a backup of the entire device in case you need to do a wipe and restore, but that doesn't help if I want to reinstall an old game I'd given up on that I fancy playing again. In that case I get a completely fresh app, no saved games.

Mind you, given that it's taken over a year since the App Store's opening and we will only be getting the ability to rearrange apps on the phone from iTunes in the next version of the software, I'm not really surprised. Apple don't demonstrate much in the way of user-savvy, do they?

Anyway, devs, is there a logistical reason, do you think?

Cheers,
Owen

Thanks for bringing it up. I shared totally with your view. The only solution I found right now is using the add page glitch discussed elsewhere in this forum.

What's the 'add page' glitch?

Oh hang on, I think I see what you're referring to - you mean if I run out of space on my iPhone screens? Actually I have plenty of space left, but I don';t like unnecessary clutter on my phone and I currently have an entire screen devoted to apps I don't particularly use that much but wouldn't want to lose the saved states of - mostly games - and the fact that they exist on my phone when the rest of it is very nicely ordered (a screen or two for games, a screen for camera apps, a screen for productivity and utilities, a screen for webclips and all my essentials on the front page) really winds me up!

I would love to be able to have games' states saved.

Right now the only save you've got of them is your device backup.

Developers need to add a server-based save system to their games.

Ngmoco, you listening? I just thought of your next killer feature for Plus+.
How about you, Open Feint guys? Agon? Anyone?

That's exactly what I was thinking a long time ago.
Not beeing able to save your save states is a hughe weakpoint in the App system.

I hope Apple finds a resolution for that problem.

I was thinking about application that would be able to save other apps "additional data" which also means saves. But I am not sure if it is possible to create this kind of application or to access them

There's apps that can do this if you are jailbroken. Backing up all save files, which you can SSH and keep the files anywhere on your computer. Or when you put the app back on the device, you can restore the saved data to that game from the last backup you made.