1. Sync with iTunes. This will save all of your App Store & stock app information like notes, game saves, logins, etc. Again, if you are not going to restore from this backup then you don’t need to do this.
2. Remove all pictures and videos using the USB connections. If something has happened where you can’t access your iPhone via USB to see pictures, like me right now. You can go to /private/var/mobile/Media/DCIM/ and manually download them via SSH. Beware, if you have a lot of pictures and videos, it may take a while.
3. Take a screenshot of every page of your springboard. I also take them of Winterboard and my Settings app where the jailbroken apps list is.
4. Open Cydia and write down or take screenshots of everything under manage>packages that you’ve installed.

You don’t need to do the following if you are using a synced backup but I still do this incase the backup is corrupt.

5. Backup Voice Memos: manually SSH off from /private/var/mobile/Media/Recordings If you want to put them back later, make sure you get the Recordings.db file.
6. Backup Contacts: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/AddressBook/AddressBook.sqlitedb and contact’s picture from the same folder: AddressBookImages.sqlitedb
7. Backup Calendar: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/Calendar/Calendar.sqlitedb
8. Backup Call History: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/CallHistory/call_history.db
9. Backup Keyboard Auto-Corrections and Dictionary: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/Keyboard/user_autocorrections.plist and user_dictionary.plist You can also copy the dynamic-text.dat file. It seems to be a collection of phrases of words you use the the keyboard can adapt and predict what words you’re typing.
10. Backup Maps Bookmarks, Directions & History: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/Maps/Bookmarks.plist, Directions.plist & History.plist
11. Backup Notes: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/Notes/notes.db & notes.idx
12. Backup Safari Bookmarks, History & Last State: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist, History.plist & SuspendState.plist
13. Backup Text Messages: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/SMS/sms.db
14. Backup Voicemail Messages: manually SSH off /private/var/mobile/Library/Voicemail/voicemail.db and any other files ending with .amr
15. Backup WebClips (bookmarked webpages you’ve added to your home screen): /private/var/mobile/Library/WebClips/(all folders ending in .webclip)
16. Backup AppStore app info: some App Store apps may store info for you that you will want. For example, a todo list, twitter accounts, etc. You will have to check each folder in /private/var/mobile/Applications. It’s a guess sometimes as to which folder is which app. Sometimes you can see the name in the folders or something that gives it away. Usually you can find what you need in each app’s “Documents” folder. Some of this will be different for each app so good luck!

After backing everything up I restore with iTunes, re-jailbreak and sync it back up. All Cydia apps will have to be reinstalled. Let me know if you think I missed anything and also share with others your process of backing up and restoring.

AptBackup is an application in Cydia that makes restoring 1000% less painful. It is in the BigBoss source and is a 43 kB download. Here is the text from the app:

‘This app will backup your Cydia installed app list. This does not back up your actual apps or apps settings. But it is close. It will make a list of everything you installed from Cydia and back that up. When you restore, it will reinstall all the packages in one step. The list is stored with other settings files and backed up with iTunes. After you restore your iPhone and restore your backup in iTunes, run the restore function here, and it should find and restore your apps. -BigBoss & Chris Featherstone-’

It works purely effectively with 2.1, just remember to MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR IPHONE IN ITUNES BEFORE you upgrade, then restore from that backup, install the app again, and click “Restore”. It takes a while (depending on how many apps/themes you had installed). It installed everything I had installed before, just didn’t save the settings of some stuff (Winterboard Order And Checked List).

This is really something that I need, since I always test unstable apps that crash my iPhone (it pays to be a tester!). This is now a must-have app for me!

0.40b1 Change Log:
    • The backup location has changed from ~/Library/TimeCapsule to ~/Library/Preferences/TimeCapsule.
    • Completely rewritten SMS Repository
    • Changed all popup to slideup (more stable, the popup causes the program to crash sometimes)
    • Completely rewritten some file management functions. You will notice that deleting backup is almost instantaneous now. With this update, I can safely add support to backup Mail. Previously, Mail backups cannot be deleted properly, so I did not add Mail support until now
    • In the previous version, where the localization function was changed, TimeCapsule only supports English. Now the follow languages are added again:
      - French
      - German
      - Italian
      - Simplified Chinese
      - Traditional Chinese
    • Added support for :
      - IntelliScreen
      - iPhoneVideoRecorder
      - NetServices
      - Mail

This is a lot of change for an application. I restored my iPhone just before version 0.40b1 was released or I could have tried the new system to restore all my files on my freshly restored/jailbroke iPhone. I will have to give it a shot next time! Other than all the behind the scenes changes, the application looks the same as the previous versions. You can get TimeCapsule through the databinge source.