Seeking Restore logic explanation

[m204prgmr]

Can someone give me a logical explanation of what is backed up and what is restored?
I just had to restore to factory settings on my iPhone4 5.1.1 os. When the restore finished I was presented with a restore option from the latest backups. I said yes.
Then I saw that the app was sync'ng my apps. Aren't these backed up too? if so, why is a sync necessary?
thanks
Robert

 

[f4780y]

The short answer is that the backup contains your settings and data. What the backup does not contain is copies of apps, media, etc. that you can otherwise sync back from iTunes (either from your PC or from the cloud). That means the backups can be a lot smaller and do not waste lots of space by backing up the apps, etc. multiple times.

So to get a device restored back to the way it was when you backed it up it is a two step process. Your backup is restored and then you sync all of the "static" apps and media back onto the device. The combination of these two things gets the device back the way it was...

 

[m204prgmr]

Thanks f4780y,