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Can someone explain to me why people are doing a clean install and not an update?

L

Lifetimechaldo

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 10, 2012
86
1
From what I have gathered, if you are on iOS6 (like me) and want to update, you can do so without loosing any data at all. This makes it so you do not need iTunes 11.1 beta bc you don't need to sync anything bc it is all already there (pictures/music/texts).

So, if this is the case than why are people doing a clean install? Does it make the phone faster or anything?

Even if it does, why not just Update now, and wait for iTunes 11.1 to be released, make a local backup of the updated iOS7 at that point, then do a clean install + restore once it is out. That way you can still use iOS7 until the new iTunes is released.
 
I can find no reason for this either.

I think it goes back to the olden days when bugs and problems from beta software would carry over or stay on a device unless a clean install was done. I'm talking about a really long time ago.

I can find no examples of problems when just updating from beta to GM.
 
People have their own preferences for one reason or another (or rally no reason at all). Nothing wrong with what you described either.
 
Oh ok I didn't know it was just preference. I thought maybe it was better to do the clean install for some reason.
 
I too tend to believe that this line of thinking is a holdover from the early PC days and have often made the point that most users simply will not do a clean install because they don't know what it means, why it could be beneficial, or why things don't "just work" without going to such technical lengths.

Outside of the walls of this forum, users will always do a straight upgrade or restore from iCloud backup. If the OS is incapable of producing desirable results under these methods, then something is wrong and needs to be resolved. Simply saying, "do a clean install" is not an appropriate answer.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Also some people keep saying do a clean install and restore your backup ... wtf .... how does that help in any way ... its the same as Update :rolleyes:

In Update the data partition will never be touched, full system is replaced and cache cleared ... no idea why a full restore is being adviced all over the forum
 
It reminds me of when people would insist on the importance of OS X clean installs...and then proceed to restore from a Time Machine backup.
 
I did a clean install of iOS 7 GM on my iPad Mini and iPhone 5. Why? I wanted to do some house keeping and start fresh. Get rid of unnecessary junk.
 
I recently did a clean install of iOS 6 on my 4S. It got rid of about 5GB of "Other" that I couldn't figure out what was causing it.

I'm going to upgrade to the 5S soon so I figured I'd be losing pics and stuff anyway. Although everything's in iPhoto and synced to iPhone, just wasn't in the Camera Roll and such.
 
SanjeevRana said:
Also some people keep saying do a clean install and restore your backup ... wtf .... how does that help in any way ... its the same as Update :rolleyes:

In Update the data partition will never be touched, full system is replaced and cache cleared ... no idea why a full restore is being adviced all over the forum
Click to expand...

Because all your old plist(settings) files are untouched, if a feature or code is changed it might not be fully compatible.

That is why it is advised to backup your personal data on icloud (pics, contacts, etc) do a setup as new and then get your perosnal info from icloud.
This why you will have a fully 'new' setup without any reminiscent settings files which might be running it slow or eat up your battery.
 
TriJetHero said:
Because all your old plist(settings) files are untouched, if a feature or code is changed it might not be fully compatible
Click to expand...

That shouldn't ever be the case. If it is, there's a bug in iOS.

The way I see it, you might as well just upgrade. If there's a problem, try a fresh install - it's far less destructive that way.
 
The way I see it, people who insist on doing a clean install is like Angelina Jolie deciding to remove her breasts so she wouldn't get cancer. Other people feel okay with waiting until they get cancer to remove their breasts.

Of course, Jolie had her reasons, what with a strong family history of cancer. But what I mean is that doing a clean install to preemptively avoid any problems or to wait until you actually have problems before doing a clean restore is totally up to you. One way is not always more right than the other.
 
Night Spring said:
The way I see it, people who insist on doing a clean install is like Angelina Jolie deciding to remove her breasts so she wouldn't get cancer. Other people feel okay with waiting until they get cancer to remove their breasts.

Of course, Jolie had her reasons, what with a strong family history of cancer. But what I mean is that doing a clean install to preemptively avoid any problems or to wait until you actually have problems before doing a clean restore is totally up to you. One way is not always more right than the other.
Click to expand...

Apart from this being a seemingly inappropriate analogy, the odds of Angelina Jolie developing cancer were 87%. To suggest that 87% of iOS upgrades result in problems is just crazy.
 
Daveoc64 said:
Apart from this being a seemingly inappropriate analogy, the odds of Angelina Jolie developing cancer were 87%. To suggest that 87% of iOS upgrades result in problems is just crazy.
Click to expand...

That's not what I was intended to suggest at all. I rather think that percentage is the other way around -- most iOS upgrades will be just fine, and people who develop problems will be the exception to the norm, just as Angelina Jolie's high odds of developing cancer is quite unusual.
 
TriJetHero said:
Because all your old plist(settings) files are untouched, if a feature or code is changed it might not be fully compatible.

That is why it is advised to backup your personal data on icloud (pics, contacts, etc) do a setup as new and then get your perosnal info from icloud.
This why you will have a fully 'new' setup without any reminiscent settings files which might be running it slow or eat up your battery.
Click to expand...

That is the most ignorant comment I have ever read ... if such was the case, you would never even have APP updates .... :rolleyes:
 
TriJetHero said:
It shows indeed, no need to call someone ignorant if you have no clue an no intention do some research
Click to expand...

Since you are a researcher, next time do some background check on the other person as well before giving helpful reading advice :)

I am no googler !
 
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