Hello guys! Is there anyway I can backup my Apple Watch without having to unpair it from my phone? The thing is that I want to return my iPhone and wait for a 7Plus to show up at my local Apple Store. I think I can be without a phone for a day or two but I would like to have a functional watch though. If I unpair it from my phone, the watch won't be set up anymore.
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Apple Watch backup without unpair
- Thread starter Leo90
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The watch is backed up periodically even without unpairing, but there isn't a way to tell when it was last backed up. That's why you are advised to unpair, because that assures that you have an up to date backup.
You do realize that if you use your watch without your phone for a few days, then any data it accumulates during those days will be lost when you get a new phone, load it with the saved backup from a few days before, and pair your watch to the new phone.
You do realize that if you use your watch without your phone for a few days, then any data it accumulates during those days will be lost when you get a new phone, load it with the saved backup from a few days before, and pair your watch to the new phone.
I know, but I won't be getting a new iPhone in 2 days. So in those 2 days I would like to use it as a regular watch and alarm at least.
Well, in that case, just keep an backup of your phone. You might lose three days of data, instead of two, but you'll have some kind of backup of your watch. Does that make sense?
But is it assured that whenever I backup my phone on the iCloud service, the current state of my watch is backed up?
No, which is why you might lose an extra day of data by doing it this way.
Your iPhone backup will contain a backup of your watch at some recent-ish point in time, probably from the last 24 or so hours, but no asssurance how old that backup will be.
Actually, there is something that I have discovered over the last year.
If you do not unpair your Apple Watch with your old phone, but then enter the Watch App on the new phone, it will pop up saying 'Your watch is paired with another phone, reset your watch to repair" (Something like that). Well once you get that pop-up it immediately makes a backup of your watch.
Now you go to Settings-General-Reset-Erase All Content and Settings on your watch. Once that is finished you go back to the Watch App on your iPhone and pair like usually. It will prompt you to restore from the backup it just created moments ago.
Edit:
I should note. That any health/activity data is not included in that backup, but the iCloud/Encrypted iTunes backup only. So you will lose that data. But you will retain app data, settings, app layout and so on.
If you do not unpair your Apple Watch with your old phone, but then enter the Watch App on the new phone, it will pop up saying 'Your watch is paired with another phone, reset your watch to repair" (Something like that). Well once you get that pop-up it immediately makes a backup of your watch.
Now you go to Settings-General-Reset-Erase All Content and Settings on your watch. Once that is finished you go back to the Watch App on your iPhone and pair like usually. It will prompt you to restore from the backup it just created moments ago.
Edit:
I should note. That any health/activity data is not included in that backup, but the iCloud/Encrypted iTunes backup only. So you will lose that data. But you will retain app data, settings, app layout and so on.
If I have no idea how old the backup will be, then you can't guarantee I wont lose all the data I collected before those 2 days.
No, you won't lose ALL data, because the watch data is periodically backed up to the iPhone. It's just that there's no way to tell exactly when the last backup was made. It should backup around once a day, but once a day could be now, or 24 hours before now.
No, it is not backed up daily at all. I remember I paired my AW once to a new iPhone and the latest back up was the one I had done 3 weeks ago
The Apple Watch is backed up daily with an iCloud backup and every time you do an encrypted iTunes backup. And again, it will create an immediate backup on a new device if it is paired with an old iPhone as I outlined above. I gave thorough and detailed instructions.
Did you not read what I posted earlier?
"If you do not unpair your Apple Watch with your old phone, but then enter the Watch App on the new phone, it will pop up saying 'Your watch is paired with another phone, reset your watch to repair" (Something like that). Well once you get that pop-up it immediately makes a backup of your watch.
Now you go to Settings-General-Reset-Erase All Content and Settings on your watch. Once that is finished you go back to the Watch App on your iPhone and pair like usually. It will prompt you to restore from the backup it just created moments ago.
Edit:
I should note. That any health/activity data is not included in that backup, but the iCloud/Encrypted iTunes backup only. So you will lose that data. But you will retain app data, settings, app layout and so on."
Just to let you know I did what you said and of course that couldnt happen for privacy/security reasons. I had to re-pair and use the backup I did the day before. You probably dreamed about this function.
Nope. I've used it MANY times. I did this with 4 devices last week when my family all upgraded their phones. It's very well possible you did it incorrectly. But it does work. If you set your new phone up as new. That's the problem.
If you read my instructions I did clearly state you will need to repair it with the new phone but it will create a backup before doing so.
Something else must have gone wrong, but my method works 100%. I've used it a dozen times over the last year.