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Anyone else "clean up" your apps/contacts ahead of getting the new phone?

C

CKtoph

macrumors 6502
Original poster
So, I have this habit of doing a bit of housecleaning on my phone in anticipation for my new one. I'll delete apps that I don't use, and clean out old contacts that I won't need anymore.

Just curious if anyone else does this 😛
 
I just start fresh. I don't mess with the contacts because they are already in good shape, but I will not restore the phone from back up and just install the apps as I need/want them. It seems to work well enough.
 
Do most people not update from backups because the backup feature 'doesn't work'? I put that in quotes because I've read that some people say that the backups don't just backup app info but any 'problems' that one may have had on their device.

I'd like a backup option that just remembers my app and folder information (along with logins for the apps) so I can have the same layout in an updated device. Settings for the iPad and network connections, I can do well enough on my own...
 
afurry13 said:
I just start fresh. I don't mess with the contacts because they are already in good shape, but I will not restore the phone from back up and just install the apps as I need/want them. It seems to work well enough.
Click to expand...

Agreed. New iPhone - new install.
 
biosci said:
Do most people not update from backups because the backup feature 'doesn't work'? I put that in quotes because I've read that some people say that the backups don't just backup app info but any 'problems' that one may have had on their device.

I'd like a backup option that just remembers my app and folder information (along with logins for the apps) so I can have the same layout in an updated device. Settings for the iPad and network connections, I can do well enough on my own...
Click to expand...


This is the way it works. iCloud backup does not store a full system image in the cloud.

It stores a database of app data, settings, which apps.

The phone has a fresh start.
Then iCloud pulls down settings configuration and applies.
Then pulls down app data.
Then pulls down fresh apps from app store and installs.
 
Menel said:
This is the way it works. iCloud backup does not store a full system image in the cloud.

It stores a database of app data, settings, which apps.

The phone has a fresh start.
Then iCloud pulls down settings configuration and applies.
Then pulls down app data.
Then pulls down fresh apps from app store and installs.
Click to expand...

Does iCloud backup restore everything including videos? Do you still have to sync with a iTunes on a Macbook/PC to get everything restored?
 
BD1 said:
Does iCloud backup restore everything including videos? Do you still have to sync with a iTunes on a Macbook/PC to get everything restored?
Click to expand...

Yes, you have to sync with your computer to get media back. But by doing the iCloud restore the computer now knows which media you had on it before and automatically starts putting it back.

So you don't have to re-select what you want. It knows what was there before and just starts copying it.

In 6 years of iPhone ownership I've started with a fresh wipe twice just to get a clean start from an organizational standpoint. Other than those times I've always restored from backups. Always seems to work fine for me.
 
Small White Car said:
Yes, you have to sync with your computer to get media back. But by doing the iCloud restore the computer now knows which media you had on it before and automatically starts putting it back.

So you don't have to re-select what you want. It knows what was there before and just starts copying it.

In 6 years of iPhone ownership I've started with a fresh wipe twice just to get a clean start from an organizational standpoint. Other than those times I've always restored from backups. Always seems to work fine for me.
Click to expand...

Ok. So why restore from iCloud vs iTunes backup (unless you are not near computer)? And shouldn't backup from macbook/pc be faster than over the cloud?
 
BD1 said:
Ok. So why restore from iCloud vs iTunes backup (unless you are not near computer)? And shouldn't backup from macbook/pc be faster than over the cloud?
Click to expand...

1) I'm not always near my computer. I once broke a phone on the first day of a 1 week vacation and got it replaced at a local Apple store. Yeah, I didn't get my music back, but it sure what nice to have everything else back for the rest of the week.

2) I am fire-proofed. If my house burns down and I run out without my phone or my computer, I can at least restore all my data. (Not that I won't have bigger problems if my house burns down, but substitute "burglar" or "flood" or whatever you want in place of a fire.)

3) Some people do both. You can have auto-cloud backup turned on and then do a computer backup before restoring a new phone. Then you get my advantages AND your advantages. No reason not to do both, at least during a phone upgrade, anyway.
 
So then basically, we shouldn't have to worry at all about icloud backups to restore your apps and folder structures then right? So then what's the case for why people start as a new phone then?
 
biosci said:
So then basically, we shouldn't have to worry at all about icloud backups to restore your apps and folder structures then right? So then what's the case for why people start as a new phone then?
Click to expand...

It is possible for some kind of bug or corruption to copy over. I once had a battery-draining problem that came over to a new phone using a backup restore. That was one of the times I re-wiped and started fresh.

So some people just start fresh every year to avoid that kind of thing. I'm of the mind that it's not worth the trouble unless you actually have a problem. I'd do it after the fact but not preventatively. But others may come to a different conclusion.
 
Unless I'm missing something, problem with starting fresh is I'd lose all my contacts, text messages and notes?
 
JazzG said:
Unless I'm missing something, problem with starting fresh is I'd lose all my contacts, text messages and notes?
Click to expand...

Texts, yes.

Notes and Contacts should be synced with something like iCloud or Google or Yahoo. Assuming you've done that they'll re-sync with the servers and re-download.

But if you haven't set up any online services, yes, they'd be lost.
 
Small White Car said:
Texts, yes.

Notes and Contacts should be synced with something like iCloud or Google or Yahoo. Assuming you've done that they'll re-sync with the servers and re-download.

But if you haven't set up any online services, yes, they'd be lost.
Click to expand...

Cool, I usually don't sync anything online and just keep a couple backups on hard drives.

Might use one of those backup extractor programs because there are some problems with my iPhone but need to keep hold of my text messages.
 
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