Is it me or is iCloud in iOS9 broken?

[sunking101]

I made the fatal mistake of setting up as a new phone when I got my 6S+. I spent literally two evenings transferring photos & videos over, and then creating a new backup.

Well this evening due to one or too small iOS9 bugs, I decided to erase all content and reinstall my fresh backup. I had an iCloud backup and I didn't need my phone for a few hours, so I had absolutely nothing to lose...

Hmm.

The backup loaded without hitch but hey, where are all the hundreds of photos in my Photo Manager Pro app? Where are the videos? Why is my camera roll all jumbled up? Why have none of my apps saved their passwords etc? All apps were toggled in iCloud, and my last backup (successful) was 14GB. However, only around 2GB has actually loaded onto my device. What an absolute crock. Fuming. Of course I'll try it again but I'm not holding out much hope because iCloud has been a PITA ever since iOS9 for me. No auto-backups have been managed and I've had several 'the backup could not be completed' efforts. iCloud used to be a Rolls Royce service.

 

[electronicsguy]

I made the fatal mistake of setting up as a new phone when I got my 6S+. I spent literally two evenings transferring photos & videos over, and then creating a new backup.

Well this evening due to one or too small iOS9 bugs, I decided to erase all content and reinstall my fresh backup. I had an iCloud backup and I didn't need my phone for a few hours, so I had absolutely nothing to lose...

Hmm.

The backup loaded without hitch but hey, where are all the hundreds of photos in my Photo Manager Pro app? Where are the videos? Why is my camera roll all jumbled up? Why have none of my apps saved their passwords etc? All apps were toggled in iCloud, and my last backup (successful) was 14GB. However, only around 2GB has actually loaded onto my device. What an absolute crock. Fuming. Of course I'll try it again but I'm not holding out much hope because iCloud has been a PITA ever since iOS9 for me. No auto-backups have been managed and I've had several 'the backup could not be completed' efforts. iCloud used to be a Rolls Royce service.

lesson to be learnt: ditch this fad of cloud backups and use a local computer with itunes. btw, there is a lot of data that the icloud backup doesn't have. read here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204136

 

[C DM]

I believe passwords are not included in iCloud backup (perhaps via iCloud Keychain in some way, but typically they are included in iTunes backups if that option is selected and a password is created to do an encrypted backup). As far as photos/videos/media from different apps, I believe that depends on the apps and if they backup their data to iCloud, as not all apps do that.

 

[sunking101]

I believe passwords are not included in iCloud backup (perhaps via iCloud Keychain in some way, but typically they are included in iTunes backups if that option is selected and a password is created to do an encrypted backup). As far as photos/videos/media from different apps, I believe that depends on the apps and if they backup their data to iCloud, as not all apps do that.

Yeah I know but in iOS7 and 8 this photo app used to backup my data to iCloud and not only that, the last successful iCloud backup listed the correct amount of GB for that app. Furthermore, my iCloud backup size would be 1/8 as large if this app hadn't backed up.

As for app passwords, previous installations of an iCloud backup on other iPhones saved the state of all my apps. Heck, even my Whatsapp backup failed to load up this time. If I have to recreate this backup once more, from scratch, I will blow my top. Twice.

 

[wepiii]

lesson to be learnt: ditch this fad of cloud backups and use a local computer with itunes. btw, there is a lot of data that the icloud backup doesn't have. read here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204136

The support document you linked to actually says the exact opposite.

there is a bug with 6s and 6s + iCloud restores from iCloud not including messages and photos. Outside of that issue, I've never had a single issue with iCloud restores since it came out. I've had many issues with restoring from iTunes. I think one or the other works better or worse for different people.

 

[sunking101]

The support document you linked to actually says the exact opposite.

there is a bug with 6s and 6s + iCloud restores from iCloud not including messages and photos. Outside of that issue, I've never had a single issue with iCloud restores since it came out. I've had many issues with restoring from iTunes. I think one or the other works better or worse for different people.

Same here, not one problem ever with an iCloud backup in the last 4-5 years...until iOS9/6S+ came on the scene.

 

[electronicsguy]

The support document you linked to actually says the exact opposite.

there is a bug with 6s and 6s + iCloud restores from iCloud not including messages and photos. Outside of that issue, I've never had a single issue with iCloud restores since it came out. I've had many issues with restoring from iTunes. I think one or the other works better or worse for different people.

what's the opposite of what I said. I said ditch the icloud backup. It won't work for people who don't pay for extra space in any case. plus you cannot restore it in any situation where internet is not accessible or is just too darn slow. whereas a local backup always will. What exactly does the document refute in this?

 

[sunking101]

what's the opposite of what I said. I said ditch the icloud backup. It won't work for people who don't pay for extra space in any case. plus you cannot restore it in any situation where internet is not accessible or is just too darn slow. whereas a local backup always will. What exactly does the document refute in this?

I have 50GB of iCloud space and your argument about internet not always being accessible can also be applied to a pc/Mac and iTunes. Not everyone carts all that around with them either. Zero problems in years with iCloud, although right now I wish that I had a local backup. The trouble with iTunes and non-stock apps is that saving data can be a PITA.

According to iCloud all of this missing data is there, I just can't get it onto my phone.

 

[Clix Pix]

I have had problems with my iCloud backups on my iPhone 6s Plus, but not with either iPad (iPad Mini 2, iPad Air 2).... Finally (I think!) after following someone's instructions on another site I have solved the problem with the iPhone 6s Plus but now am kind of afraid to try running another iCloud backup on it for a while. Ack! No problems with doing it with the device hooked up to iTunes on the computer -- backups there have worked just fie. I've always maintained a habit of backing up in both methods with all of my devices just to be on the safe side. I actually prefer the backup with iTunes on the computer since that way I can incorporate everything: photos, music, whatever, even if I don't store everything in iCloud, which at this point I do not. I also regularly back my iTunes library up to more than one external drive, too.

It IS a good point about things not always being accessible online; for example, this morning I had a problem with my online access (turned out to be a brief glitch with the router) and so, yes, if I had needed to retrieve something that was stored "in the cloud" online I would not have been able to do it. A good reason to always have backups available in several ways, including the use of external hard drives.

 

[electronicsguy]

I have 50GB of iCloud space and your argument about internet not always being accessible can also be applied to a pc/Mac and iTunes. Not everyone carts all that around with them either. Zero problems in years with iCloud, although right now I wish that I had a local backup. The trouble with iTunes and non-stock apps is that saving data can be a PITA.

According to iCloud all of this missing data is there, I just can't get it onto my phone.

Yes, that's why i said for people who "don't" have the extra icloud space, even that isn't an option. how is the app related data a PITA with local backup and not with icloud? Isn't the data going to be saved in the backup one way or the other? With a local backup, it'll be much faster to transfer the data, if you initiate the backup manually. With the icloud backup, it may keep backing up in the background, but the same amount of data has to be transferred in both cases. it'll be spread out over time, but slower.

 

[sunking101]

Yes, that's why i said for people who "don't" have the extra icloud space, even that isn't an option. how is the app related data a PITA with local backup and not with icloud? Isn't the data going to be saved in the backup one way or the other? With a local backup, it'll be much faster to transfer the data, if you initiate the backup manually. With the icloud backup, it may keep backing up in the background, but the same amount of data has to be transferred in both cases. it'll be spread out over time, but slower.

Through iTunes, the app data isn't saved automatically. You have to go through a seriously non-user friendly and 1980s-style process of manually selecting chunks of the data and saving them to your desktop. When the time comes to install your iTunes backup you then have to manually import these several chunks of data, whereas iCloud does it all automatically. Or it used to.
I do however fully accept that a standard iTunes backup is a lot faster.

 

[wepiii]

what's the opposite of what I said. I said ditch the icloud backup. It won't work for people who don't pay for extra space in any case. plus you cannot restore it in any situation where internet is not accessible or is just too darn slow. whereas a local backup always will. What exactly does the document refute in this?

You said that there is a lot of data that iCloud doesn't back up. The support document you linked to has a longer list of things that iTunes does not back up.

 

[electronicsguy]

Through iTunes, the app data isn't saved automatically. You have to go through a seriously non-user friendly and 1980s-style process of manually selecting chunks of the data and saving them to your desktop. When the time comes to install your iTunes backup you then have to manually import these several chunks of data, whereas iCloud does it all automatically. Or it used to.

I'm afraid you're quite wrong. I don't know why its not doing it for "YOU", but all my and my gf's iphone native and non-native app data is stored and restored many times using local backups. No extra manual work other than clicking "restore"

 

[C DM]

Through iTunes, the app data isn't saved automatically. You have to go through a seriously non-user friendly and 1980s-style process of manually selecting chunks of the data and saving them to your desktop. When the time comes to install your iTunes backup you then have to manually import these several chunks of data, whereas iCloud does it all automatically. Or it used to.
I do however fully accept that a standard iTunes backup is a lot faster.

I don't think I've ever had to select or do anything in iTunes--just fire it up, select the backup option (usually with passwords being backed up as well), let it back things up, and then after restoring put that backup back onto the device.

 

[sunking101]

I'm afraid you're quite wrong. I don't know why its not doing it for "YOU", but all my and my gf's iphone non-native app data is stored and restored many times using local backups. No extra manual work other than clicking "restore"

Nope. Certain apps do things differently and this rigmarole is actually listed in the app's FAQs. If you don't do it their way then no data is saved and iTunes will just install the app sans data. Each folder (I have seven) has to be manually saved.

 

[KALLT]

I believe iTunes doesn’t back up the data you have synced from your Mac. You also need to make sure that you have a copy of each app bundle in iTunes, otherwise they won’t be restored later on. But for the rest, iTunes backs everything up (just make sure you choose encrypted backup) in tandem with iTunes content sync. This is how I’ve been doing it since the iPhone 3G and I never missed anything.

 

[electronicsguy]

Nope. Certain apps do things differently and this rigmarole is actually listed in the app's FAQs. If you don't do it their way then no data is saved and iTunes will just install the app sans data.

That comes back in the "sync" just click on sync after the backup. all the itunes songs, playlists, etc. will also come back once you sync up again. there's nothing lost, or nothing that needs to be done manually for each app (other than pressing these 2 buttons of "restore" and "sync" that I agree. )

 

[sunking101]

Anyway, back on topic chaps. This is about iCloud and not iTunes.

 

[wepiii]

what's the opposite of what I said. I said ditch the icloud backup. It won't work for people who don't pay for extra space in any case. plus you cannot restore it in any situation where internet is not accessible or is just too darn slow. whereas a local backup always will. What exactly does the document refute in this?

I don't think I've ever had to select or do anything in iTunes--just fire it up, select the backup option (usually with passwords being backed up as well), let it back things up, and then after restoring put that backup back onto the device.

It's different now, but it used to be that if you didn't transfer your purchased apps and content to iTunes first, that would not be restored. I would rather have 30gb of backup sitting in the cloud rather than taking up space on my MacBook. Again, it's different for everyone, and this bug seriously sucks... But it's not a reason to claim everyone should "ditch this fad of iCloud backup"

The same argument could be made against iTunes backups. What if your hard drive crashes?

 

[Clix Pix]

Local backup works just fine for me -- I just need to verify that my photos are synced to the right folder (one that is not part of iPhotos or Photos or iCloud, but rather a separate folder on my desktop) and that all my music is nicely organized and ready to roll..... I do need to check something on the way iBooks has been working lately but that hasn't been a critical issue for me at this point, it's just that it looks as though the same books keep being synced again and again and again.

As far as apps go, I have not experienced any problems there, but then again I probably have and use a lot fewer apps than many members here do.....

I just feel more secure in having backups using both methods, iCloud AND local backup.

 

[electronicsguy]

I believe iTunes doesn’t back up the data you have synced from your Mac. You also need to make sure that you have a copy of each app bundle in iTunes, otherwise they won’t be restored later on. But for the rest, iTunes backs everything up (just make sure you choose encrypted backup) in tandem with iTunes content sync. This is how I’ve been doing it since the iPhone 3G and I never missed anything.

btw, KALLT, i found out an interesting fact.. I deleted some apps (.ipa) from the local itunes folder. I restored a backup on my phone which had these apps. Itunes naturally gave a warning saying "app ABC" not found. However, if you just goto the app store on your phone, download that particular app that you deleted from your local itunes folder, the app gets populated with all its data . It seems when you restore a backup without a copy of the app (.ipa), the relevant app data is still copied over.

 

[sunking101]

That comes back in the "sync" just click on sync after the backup. all the itunes songs, playlists, etc. will also come back once you sync up again. there's nothing lost, or nothing that needs to be done manually for each app (other than pressing these 2 buttons of "restore" and "sync" that I agree. )

That's the case with one folder but anymore and the rest get lost. I tried it years ago. I can get any files off my pc onto the iPhone, it's just some apps are a pain to do - such as Photo Manager Pro and Downloads.

 

[electronicsguy]

That's the case with one folder but anymore and the rest get lost. I tried it years ago. I can get any files off my pc onto the iPhone, it's just some apps are a pain to do - such as Photo Manager Pro and Downloads.

Well things do change try it out today and you may be surprised. The behaviour you described is certainly not the documented one. What I said above is, and I have done it many times on many laptops (windows and mac both).

 

[electronicsguy]

You said that there is a lot of data that iCloud doesn't back up. The support document you linked to has a longer list of things that iTunes does not back up.

Its not that itunes doesn't back it up. There's a confusion between what data is there in a backup and what is there in a "sync". icloud may just not be using these 2 terms separately, but the local itunes still backs up all data including all app data, which is restored using a sync. There's nothing missing or nothing opposite in the document than what i said.

 

[KALLT]

btw, KALLT, i found out an interesting fact.. I deleted some apps (.ipa) from the local itunes folder. I restore a backup on my phone which had these apps. Itunes naturally gave a warning saying "app ABC" not found. However, if you just goto the app store on your phone, download that particular app that you deleted from your local itunes folder, the app gets populated with all its data . It seems when you restore a backup with a copy of the app (.ipa), the relevant app data is still copied over.

This is true, I noticed that as well.