Recently my fiancée broke the screen on her iPhone. It wasn’t just the screen she broke though. If you’ve ever truly looked at an iPhone, Apple covers the entire exterior of the device in glass. Then below the glass casing is another layer of glass and the LCD screen. Needless to say she really did a number on the phone. I ordered a new screen to replace her old one from Amazon, but we’re still left in a bit of a pickle. If the phone doesn’t work even after replacing the screen, we needed a way to extract all of her local data. The phone still turns on, and we can hear notifications going off, but the screen is a lost cause. EaseUS MobiSaver is a Windows application that will allow you to connect an iOS device and backup existing data or recover deleted data.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

EaseUS MobiSaver is a data recovery and backup tool for iOS devices — but it is run from Windows. EaseUS MobiSaver lets you recover lost data and backup existing data from any iOS device that you connect to your computer.

Take note EaseUS MobiSaver has two editions, Free ($0) and paid ($59.95). EaseUS mentions there being only two differences between the two editions: Free can recover “limited” amount of photos, vidoes, and contact while the paid version can recover “as many as you want”. Exactly what is the limit in the free version? It isn’t clear.

Also, Free is free for personal use, however you will need to register for a license code before you can actually recover items from your device. Don’t worry, the license code is free and only requires a name and valid email address.

Pros

• Allows you to backup existing data and recover previously deleted data from any iOS device
  • You can recover data directly from the device or an iTunes backup
• You can choose from three recovery categories including contacts and contact records, photos and videos, or reminders and notes
  • Recover Photos
  • Recover Videos
  • Recover Messages
  • Recover iMessages
  • Recover Contacts
  • Recover Call History
  • Recover Notes
  • Recover Calendar
  • Recover Reminders
  • Recover Safari Bookmarks
  • Recover Message Attachments
  • Recover Message Camera Roll

• Most data is backed up as a plain text file except for the media files of course
• The whole process is relatively painless and quick
• Works with all iOS devices, including iPhone 5/4S/4, iPad 4/3/2, etc.

Cons

• What about support for Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry?
• You need to register for a free license code and activate the software before you can recover any data
• Free edition lets you recover only a “limited” number of photos, videos, and contacts

Discussion

The application is not portable and will need to be installed in order to use it. Please remember to download the EaseUS MobiSaver Free version and not the trial version. Like I mentioned above, before you can actually recover any of your data you will need to sign-up for a free license code on this page.

It’s worth noting that the install package would not open in Windows 7 when I was trying to interact with the executable. I tried several times and the installation process was not started. Naturally, I right clicked on the executable and chose to “run as administrator” and the install dialogue appeared right away. Keep that in mind, as you may also need to use the same measure.

EaseUS MobiSaver will work with a plethora of iOS devices including the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Furthermore, it works with all current generations running OS versions from original to iOS 7. It’s also worth noting that you don’t have to wait for something to go wrong with your device before you backup the data. In fact, I would recommend that you do so as often as possible. As Forrest Gump so openly says, “s*** happens.”

Interestingly enough, this is a recovery suite which means you can also recover files that you’ve deleted from the device. That’s not quite what I need the application for, but the feature is there so we’re certainly going to take a peek at it.

Unbeknownst to me (and I should have expected it), I launched the application only to be told that I need the latest version of iTunes installed on my computer in order to use EaseUS MobiSaver. Personally, I don’t have iTunes installed on my computer because I’m of mind that it’s a very shoddy and buggy piece of [useless] software. Unfortunately, the joke was on me. I had to install iTunes in order to use the application. You can see a picture of the error message I received over to the right.

When you first start the application it asks you what type of data you’d like to recover and you’re given three options: contacts and contact records, photos and videos, or reminders and notes. To continue, you make the appropriate selection and then the app will prompt you to connect your iOS device. It may take a minute or two for the computer and app to recognize your device, but when it does you can continue with the recovery process by clicking the “next” button.

The device will then be scanned for the related data, and several recovery options will be presented. More importantly, you can see automatic recovery points in relation to actions performed on the device. Each entry in the list is another form of data, such as a text message, note or even contact card. You can specify exactly which items you’d like to recover.

This is where things get a bit hairy. Once you actually move on to the recovery stage, you will be prompted for a serial code if you haven’t already activated the software. This is one of the main reasons why I mentioned you need a license, which can be acquired for free with a valid email address. You can go no further if you do not activate the software, so please don’t assume otherwise.

Most of the resulting files backed up will be saved as a standard text file which includes all the relevant information. Obviously, photos and videos are the exception to that practice.

The entire recovery process is easy, and fast- assuming you already have the software activated. Because this is an app that you won’t leave running in the background at all times, memory consumption is not necessary to discuss. That being said, it’s relatively light on system resources.

You can recover both current data and previously deleted data from the connected device. For the purpose of this review, I created a contact on said device (through iTunes obviously because the screen is busted) and then deleted it from the phone. During the recovery selection process, the deleted contact was made available to me as a backup along with existing contacts. That means you can use this as an all-purpose data recovery tool for iOS devices.

Conclusion and download link

EaseUS MobiSaver is a Windows application that allows you to backup existing data and files and recover deleted data and files from any and all iOS devices. And it works relatively well in that regard. If you need a free and efficient way to backup or recover data from an iOS device, this app will do the trick.

Price: Free, $59.95

Version reviewed: 2.5

Supported OS: Windows 8/7/Vista/XP

Download size: 11.9MB

VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/47

Is it portable? No

EaseUS MobiSaver Free homepage | EaseUS MobiSaver homepage