iPhone lost & Activity Data

[skydrak]

Hello,

I lost my iPhone yesterday in a Taxi, the driver didn't find it, so another guest must have picked it up, I was able to activate the lost mode. I will wait a few days if it will be turned back, if not I have to buy a new one...

I have a question regarding the Apple Watch im still using: As I'm gaining achievements and activity on the watch, how can I safe this data and have the history on the new iPhone? Is there a way to backup the data before syncing it with the new phone? My last iCloud Backup from the phone is the 8th of july.

I contacted Apple Chat about it, but the guy could not really help me. Maybe someone have experieneces with this situation and can assist me.

Kind regards,
Pascal

 

[bricktop_at]

I think I remember that the AW can store about a week of activity data before it needs to sync it to the iPhone. So if you get yours back or a new one by that time you should be fine

 

[skydrak]

I think I remember that the AW can store about a week of activity data before it needs to sync it to the iPhone. So if you get yours back or a new one by that time you should be fine

But I need to have the old iPhone to have the new data backed up, or? Or do I just restore the new phone from the backup and syncing the Watch again? As I read, I have to erase the Watch before I can sync it again, so all data will be lost.

The apple support was not useful in this case, and I can not understand why a high-end smartwatch needs the iPhone to update the activity in iCloud. Never thought of this before.

 

[bricktop_at]

But I need to have the old iPhone to have the new data backed up, or? Or do I just restore the new phone from the backup and syncing the Watch again? As I read, I have to erase the Watch before I can sync it again, so all data will be lost.

Hmm… that is indeed a good question.
With the old phone all should be fine. But with a new one I‘d try restoring it from the backup and see if the watch syncs… never had that situation :-/

 

[skydrak]

Yeah, kind of not normal situation, but I think it is not a rare situation, as there are also other people than me who lost their phones and also having an Apple Watch. Apple Support is not helpful in this situation. :/

 

[bricktop_at]

Yeah, kind of not normal situation, but I think it is not a rare situation, as there are also other people than me who lost their phones and also having an Apple Watch. Apple Support is not helpful in this situation. :/

Yeah they really should know what to do and how. Maybe give it another chance with another support agent… sometimes it might also be easier to explain over the phone

 

[skydrak]

To make long answer short: It's impossible, all data after the last backup is lost after pairing it. You need to have access to the old iPhone to get the data backuped...

 

[bricktop_at]

Well… at least we have learned something from your experience :-/

 

[Apple_Robert]

To make long answer short: It's impossible, all data after the last backup is lost after pairing it. You need to have access to the old iPhone to get the data backuped...

If the achievements are important to you, write down the dates and data manually. That way, you will have some kind of record you can look back on.

 

[skydrak]

If the achievements are important to you, write down the dates and data manually. That way, you will have some kind of record you can look back on.

My personal record will be destroyed when pairing again. 653 days in a row...

 

[jz0309]

Unless you have explicitly turned it off, health data is backed up to iCloud…
So while you might still lose some data, your fitness tracking one should be there.
And I honestly do not know how much fitness data the AW could hold, but any newer model with 16GB you’d think quite a bit, unless you have a lot of data on your watch

 

[skydrak]

Unless you have explicitly turned it off, health data is backed up to iCloud…
So while you might still lose some data, your fitness tracking one should be there.
And I honestly do not know how much fitness data the AW could hold, but any newer model with 16GB you’d think quite a bit, unless you have a lot of data on your watch

Its an Apple Watch Series 6 with a lot of space. Health is backed up to iCloud. So there is some hope... I will wait till the end of the week if someone give it to the local authorities or calls me. After that I have to get a new iphone...

 

[NoBoMac]

Makes sense re: losing the gap data, since you can't unpair the watch (which would do a backup) from the old phone, and need to reset the watch and pair as new to new phone.

 

[skydrak]

Makes sense re: losing the gap data, since you can't unpair the watch (which would do a backup) from the old phone, and need to reset the watch and pair as new to new phone.

Yeah, never thought about it. But IMHO Apple should overthink the backup process of the watch (maybe offering a backup if you lost your phone). From the hardware specs it should be possible to create a separate backup from the watch.

 

[Apple_Robert]

My personal record will be destroyed when pairing again. 653 days in a row...

The electronic stat will be gone but not the accomplishments. I know it is disappointing but, I would focus on all the things you have already accomplished and let go of the electronic record. You know what you did regardless of what the electronic record may or may not reflect.

 

[Khalanad75]

The electronic stat will be gone but not the accomplishments. I know it is disappointing but, I would focus on all the things you have already accomplished and let go off the electronic record. You know what you did regardless of what the electronic record may or may not reflect.

I did actually lose all of my stats. I was on a 1200 day record and I just upgraded my phone. Unpaired and paired to the new phone to having no achievements whatsoever. I had one come back to me, that is it: Veterans day badge from 2020. :|

 

[murdoc2k]

Yeah, never thought about it. But IMHO Apple should overthink the backup process of the watch (maybe offering a backup if you lost your phone). From the hardware specs it should be possible to create a separate backup from the watch.

Apple Watch syncs all of its health data to iPhone because the Health app is the central hub for all of that data. That data will be backed up to the Cloud when iPhone data back ups occur. This makes sense and is simple to reason about.

I agree that Apple should have an alternative means to back up this information. For example, for those who are comfortable with storing encrypted data on iCloud to point the syncing of Health information to iCloud instead of iPhone. This would solve the issue since all Apple Watches are capable of a Wifi connection;

But then this may create a new can of worms since there are now multiple ways data can be stored which may complicate how they do things from an engineering and reliability standpoint.

I did actually lose all of my stats. I was on a 1200 day record and I just upgraded my phone. Unpaired and paired to the new phone to having no achievements whatsoever. I had one come back to me, that is it: Veterans day badge from 2020. :|

That is unfortunate and odd at the same time. From what I remember when I upgraded from my series 5 to series 6, when you unpair your watch, it automatically creates a backup first before clearing all of the watch's data. Could that have been a glitch?

 

[henry72]

As other have said, I am very certain you will lose your health data from the time your watch is disconnected from your iPhone. I understand how upset this can be when you are passionate about your fitness awards.

This is why Apple need to find a way to make the watch less dependent on the iPhone. For example, the watch should be able to sync health data to iCloud via cellular (if enabled) or WiFi.

Also this is not a good time to buy a new iPhone as the new one is coming in about two months. Consider getting a SE or a second hand in the meantime.

 

[Khalanad75]

Apple Watch syncs all of its health data to iPhone because the Health app is the central hub for all of that data. That data will be backed up to the Cloud when iPhone data back ups occur. This makes sense and is simple to reason about.

I agree that Apple should have an alternative means to back up this information. For example, for those who are comfortable with storing encrypted data on iCloud to point the syncing of Health information to iCloud instead of iPhone. This would solve the issue since all Apple Watches are capable of a Wifi connection;

But then this may create a new can of worms since there are now multiple ways data can be stored which may complicate how they do things from an engineering and reliability standpoint.



That is unfortunate and odd at the same time. From what I remember when I upgraded from my series 5 to series 6, when you unpair your watch, it automatically creates a backup first before clearing all of the watch's data. Could that have been a glitch?

It is possible. I didn't lose my data last time I upgraded my phone, but did this time. And it was exact opposite for my wife. 1st time we upgraded her phone after a watch, she lost her achievement data, and the second time we upgraded her phone, she didn't.

Some searching and I see it's a somewhat fairly common occurrence.