Thread:Fossiliferous/@comment-26764356-20160303182815/@comment-24668482-20160303210118

Essentially, itunes is doing all the backing up. But itunes can only back up the entire device (all apps, all app data). Using itunes to restore a device from such a back up restores everything.

The other programmes allow you access to the inside of the backup, to selectively go through the files and choose what to take or leave. They are not strictly necessary. iTunes will work fine on its own to protect your game and restore it should anything go wrong. The others just allow you greater control should you want to have it (and they give you the option to just restore your SS game progress from an old backup and not replace everything else on your device with that older version at the same time).