Apple will be releasing the highly anticipated iOS 5 and iCloud tomorrow, which includes more than 200 new features and improvements.

If you’re planning to update your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 5 then here are some tips to ensure that you’re ready for it as soon as it is released. 

Availability and Compatibility:

iOS 5 will be available as a free upgrade to iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad 1, fourth generation iPod touch and third generation iPod Touch users.

Update to iTunes 10.5:

Apple has just released iTunes 10.5 for Mac and Windows users so please ensure that you’ve the latest version of iTunes.

Take a Backup of your iPhone:

It is always a good idea to take a backup of your iPhone, iPod Touch before updating it with the latest software update. iTunes will automatically back up your iPhone or iPod Touch when you connect it to your computer. You can also right-click (ctrl key and then click the mouse or touchpad button on a Mac) on your iPhone or iPod Touch under device listing and select Back up from the menu. It might be a time consuming exercise if you haven’t backed up your iPhone for a long time. But it’s important so don’t skip it.

iCloud:

Since Apple will also be launching iCloud – its new cloud based service, we would strongly recommend you to take a copy of your iTunes library.

MobileMe users and iCloud:

Apple is also expected to rollout the MobileMe to iCloud migration page (MobileMe.com/move), which will allows you to migrate data from your MobileMe account to iCloud. As Apple had said in its FAQs, the migration process allows users to move Mail, Contacts and Calendar data to iCloud. Data from other MobileMe services like iWeb, iDisk and Photo Gallery won’t be migrated, and would be discontinued after 30th June 2012. You also won’t be able to sync Mac Dashboard widget, Dock items, keychains, signatures, mail account rules, mail smart boxes, and mail preferences.

After migrating to iCloud, MobileMe users get 25GB of storage, which includes the 20GB of storage that comes with the yearly plan that a MobileMe subscriber has already paid for and the free 5GB of storage offered to all iCloud users. Basically, it means that the migration process for MobileMe users doesn’t incur any extra cost (until June 30, 2012).

Jailbreak iPhone/Unlock iPhone Users:

If you have jailbroken and/or unlocked your iPhone and cannot live without your favorite jailbreak apps and tweaks then it is recommended that you avoid updating to iOS 5.

But if you’re not sure what to do, then checkout our post, which gives the latest status update on jailbreaking iOS 5 and also the top 25 iOS 5 features.

Taking a Backup Of Jailbreak Apps:

If you’ve jailbroken your iPhone then please note that updating to the latest software update will remove the jailbreak apps. There are couple of apps such as AptBackup, xBackup and PkgBackup that help you backup jailbreak apps.

However, since iOS 5 is a major iOS update, we would recommend you to reinstall the jailbreak apps that are compatible with iOS 5.

Backup of SHSH blobs:

Please take a backup of SHSH Blobs (ECID) using Firmware Umbrella (link) so that you have the option to downgrade to iOS 4.x if required. Please note if you have already jailbroken your iPhone, iPod Touch then Cydia would have taken the backup automatically. If you see the message: “SHSH:” with the version of the current iOS running on your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch then you should be fine and can skip this step.

After you’ve followed the steps mentioned above, you should be ready to download and install iOS 5 as soon as it is available and start using all the new features in the latest iOS.

If you’ve any tips based on your experience then please let us know in the comments. If you’ve any questions, please feel free to drop us a line in the comments.