Iphone 6+ Setup Guidance

[israguard]

Good morning everyone,
1st post from a long time Iphone user but very little knowledge with itunes and other setup methods. I come here looking for guidance please.

I got my Iphone 6+ yesterday and went to set it up. I wanted it to be a carbon copy of my Iphone 5. I have always backed up my iphones to PC and not to cloud.

I hooked up Iphone 6+ to PC and Itunes opened up immediately. On Iphone 6+ screen I was at the 1) Set up as new phone 2) Restore from Cloud 3) Restore from previous back-up page. It was late at night and I chose option 2 "Restore from previous.

Immediately Itunes which clearly showed Iphone 6+ as being plugged in went to work and on Iphone 6+ screen I saw "restore in progress". However, I noticed that Itunes was naming the Iphone 6+ as "Shawn's Iphone 5" which is what I had named my iphone 5.

Its an older PC.. Took an hour but when it was done, the Iphone 6+ was a carbon copy of the Iphone 5. From A to Z it was there. On the Itunes main page with the Iphone 6+ still plugged into it, I clicked on the box which named the 6+ "shawn's Iphone 5".. and I renamed it "Shawn's Iphone 6+". And I was now done.

Whats my question ?

1) Did I do this right ? Was "restore" the proper method or should I have gone with "setup as a new phone" to be able to name it what I want from the get go & later do a transfer of data ?

2) I want to continue to use my Iphone 5 which is mint. Email is through exchange so its frankly images and texts only I'd like to have a carbon copy of. To accomplish this, am I better to drop backing up with itunes and switch to cloud based back up ?. Its a few $ a month and Im not looking to save. I just want the best that will allow me to switch SIM cards between units and both (while on wifi) will be identical.

Thank you in advance for your patience and time.

Rgds, Shawn

 

[dcharleyultra]

Iphone 6+ Setup Guidance

Yes, you did it right.

Use iCloud to keep both iDevices in sync.

Syncing to iCloud can be independent of syncing with iTunes.

I sync iDevices with iCloud, but setup iDevices with iTunes.

 

[israguard]

Thank you for quick reply.

If I use icloud, do I still plug in my Iphones to desktop once in a while ?

Also, do I have to turn on IcloudDrive or just Icloud ?

Thanks

 

[dcharleyultra]

I haven't turned on iCloud Drive yet. I'm not sure if it's ready for primetime yet.

 

[frozentoast]

If I use icloud, do I still plug in my Iphones to desktop once in a while ?

This is good practice. Frequent manual “Back Up Now” clicks to store local backups makes future restores so much faster.

 

[israguard]

You guys are awesome... thanks for quick replies.

I will follow recommendations.

Last question (for today).. do most people send their music to Icloud as well or just photos as music takes up a lot of space?

Thanks

 

[mightyjabba]

You guys are awesome... thanks for quick replies.

I will follow recommendations.

Last question (for today).. do most people send their music to Icloud as well or just photos as music takes up a lot of space?

Thanks

iCloud by itself isn't really intended for storing music, although you could do it just for a backup if you have a relatively modest library. You can also use iTunes Match, which scans your music library and gives you cloud access to all of the music that you own that is also on the iTunes Music Store, and also allows you to upload anything that isn't available on the store. But that requires a separate fee.