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iPhone 13 Pro Max Scared to upgrade phone because of certain apps

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chiggins1066

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I have an iPhone 13 I really need to upgrade, but two things are making me worried

I use Microsoft Authenticator for some important accounts, one of them being a government account (login.gov). I have selected to back this app up to iCloud, but I have no way of verifying if it is going to work after the phone upgrade (no way to test). The government website basically says they will not help me if something goes wrong.

Has anyone here upgraded a phone with Microsoft Authenticator on it? How did it go?

My other issue is more of a question: I have SIM password on my iPhone. I remember this being dangerous and difficult to set up initially because of my carrier (T-Mobil). Should I turn that off before upgrading the phone, or will the SIM lock setting carry over?
 
I use Microsoft Authenticator for work; I have it on my personal phone too, and yes it always stresses me out when I change phones! But I have always managed it, by logging on to the Microsoft security page and adding a new device that way!
 
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My experience when swapping phones and Microsoft Authenticator is that it does not store all details so for my business accounts (of which I have quite a few for my customers) I had to set them all up again or at least re-authorise them/re-authenticate them. An absolute pain in the backside. I don’t know why it doesn’t back them up.

I know they are changing the backup method, or have done so maybe it is different, but when I did this about six months ago, that’s what I had to do.

Regarding the SIM lock, not sure but I would always get rid of the SIM lock before putting it into the new phone and then reenable it.
 
martin2345uk said:
I use Microsoft Authenticator for work; I have it on my personal phone too, and yes it always stresses me out when I change phones! But I have always managed it, by logging on to the Microsoft security page and adding a new device that way!
Click to expand...

Indeed. Crazy situation.
 
I don't trust it either. It worked okay once, but badly another time.

I put as many 2FAs as I can into 1Password which I know works reliably across all my devices. Almost always when they tell you to use a specific authenticator app you can use a different (better) one.
 
martin2345uk said:
I use Microsoft Authenticator for work; I have it on my personal phone too, and yes it always stresses me out when I change phones! But I have always managed it, by logging on to the Microsoft security page and adding a new device that way!
Click to expand...
I don't think I have access to a Microsoft Security page for this --I don't even remember using a Microsoft account when I downloaded MS Authenticator from the Apple Store. I just installed it, scanned the codes from the government website, etc.
 
We use Okta at work. I also have Authy and Google Authenticator for personal use. All work well with iOS 26.4
 
Isn't Microsoft phasing out their Authenticator?

If you use Apple's built-in one (under Passwords app), you never have to worry about upgrades or multiple Apple devices again.
 
chiggins1066 said:
I use Microsoft Authenticator for some important accounts, one of them being a government account (login.gov).
Click to expand...
Go to the login.gov site and get yourself some manual backup codes. Store them in a safe reliable place that isn't on your phone. That way even if MS Authenticator breaks, you should be able to get back into login.gov and set things up again.

login.gov

Backup codes | Login.gov

login.gov login.gov

You should do the same kind of thing for any other 2FA setup that uses MS Auth.
 
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chiggins1066 said:
I have an iPhone 13 I really need to upgrade, but two things are making me worried

I use Microsoft Authenticator for some important accounts, one of them being a government account (login.gov). I have selected to back this app up to iCloud, but I have no way of verifying if it is going to work after the phone upgrade (no way to test). The government website basically says they will not help me if something goes wrong.

Has anyone here upgraded a phone with Microsoft Authenticator on it? How did it go?

My other issue is more of a question: I have SIM password on my iPhone. I remember this being dangerous and difficult to set up initially because of my carrier (T-Mobil). Should I turn that off before upgrading the phone, or will the SIM lock setting carry over?
Click to expand...
I'm an IT Manager, and I help people with MFA issues all the time. Changing to a new phone is really simple if you still have the old phone: just go to https://aka.ms/mysecurityinfo and add a device. Once the new phone is added, you can remove the old phone. Actually, it's also easy to reset MFA, but it sounds like your IT department isn't exactly 'full service.' 😔

As for SIM PIN, that's stored on the SIM itself. As long as you remember the PIN, it'll work the same on any device.
 
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chown33 said:
Go to the login.gov site and get yourself some manual backup codes. Store them in a safe reliable place that isn't on your phone. That way even if MS Authenticator breaks, you should be able to get back into login.gov and set things up again.

login.gov

Backup codes | Login.gov

login.gov login.gov

You should do the same kind of thing for any other 2FA setup that uses MS Auth.
Click to expand...
awesome, thanks!
 
mavis said:
I'm an IT Manager, and I help people with MFA issues all the time. Changing to a new phone is really simple if you still have the old phone: just go to https://aka.ms/mysecurityinfo and add a device. Once the new phone is added, you can remove the old phone. Actually, it's also easy to reset MFA, but it sounds like your IT department isn't exactly 'full service.' 😔

As for SIM PIN, that's stored on the SIM itself. As long as you remember the PIN, it'll work the same on any device.
Click to expand...
the phone is a personal one --not from a company. If it had been issued by a company, where we control the codes, MFA, etc., this would be pretty easy.

I will be getting a whole new phone, so I assume the SIM is attached to the hardware yes?
 
Make sure you dont wipe your old phone before you are fully sure the new one is working. That way you should still be able to use Authenticator on the old phone while you get things moved over. Most of the places you have 2FA for should have a process to switch it over if they dont go over properly to the new phone as part of transferring and i suspect that process will be a lot easier if you can get codes from the old authenticator still.
 
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mavis said:
As for SIM PIN, that's stored on the SIM itself. As long as you remember the PIN, it'll work the same on any device.
Click to expand...

In the US the iPhones 14 and up are sim-less, he/she won't be able to reuse the card and needs to apply for a e-sim.
 
Well I upgraded my phone today, and was able to restore MS Authenticator from iCloud backup.

The accounts came across, and everything worked fine. No need to do any gymnastics or weird synching, etc.

so this is good news
 
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chiggins1066 said:
Well I upgraded my phone today, and was able to restore MS Authenticator from iCloud backup.

The accounts came across, and everything worked fine. No need to do any gymnastics or weird synching, etc.

so this is good news
Click to expand...
Could you share how you did it possibly..?
 
I have the same issue with Musi. It is no longer available in the app store, and I know it won't transfer from my iPhone 12 Pro because it is still on iOS 16.7
I use that app daily and I'd rather keep using this older iPhone than loose that app.
 
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