I have an iPhone 8 Plus. It was working great on iOS 14.4.2 until I started getting spam iMessages for some reason, some included personal information about me. It bothered me and I felt that my phone had been compromised.
I changed my passwords, the problem persisted. I decided it would be best to overwrite the iOS code by installing a beta version (iOS 14.5 RC).
Early this past Monday morning, the phone prompted me to update to iOS 14.6 Beta 1. I didn't think much of it and installed it.
A few hours later I found out that Apple had released a stable iOS 14.5. So, I deleted the beta profile, restarted my phone and went to "General" under "Settings" to update to the publicly available iOS 14.5. The iPhone insisted that I have the most current version (iOS 14.6). I then connected it to a Macbook and tried to update the iOS. Again, the prompt said that I have the latest version - 14.6.
I called Apple and the rep said that I needed to restore my phone. Restore my phone?! I have 11,000 photos and 4000+ songs on there.
I talked to a few reps and one recommended I import the photos from the iPhone 8 Plus to my Mac and then sync with the iPhone 12.
I looked at the number of photos that was imported to the Mac and it didn't match the number that was in the iPhone's "About" page. So I called again. The next rep recommended I upload to iCloud and then sync the photos that way. Luckily, I still have a 14.4.2 backup on iCloud that I can use with public iOS 14.5.
On the iPhone 8 Plus, I went to "iCloud" in "Settings", made sure that photo backup was on and then noticed that "Shared Albums" was on too. I read the description for "Shared Albums" and decided that since I'm not sharing with anyone and no one is sharing with me, that I can turn that off. A rep also explained that "Shared Albums" are only for sharing with others. I wasn't sharing any albums with anyone.
I turned it off.
That's when I noticed that 5000 photos disappeared from my iPhone 8 Plus. I panicked. Then I realized that the photos that disappeared were probably the photos that I had synced with my iPhone a couple of years ago from the external HDD. But when I added the 'new' total number of photos from the "About" page with the number of photos I have on the external HDD, I was 100 photos short.
I figured, "that's ok. I'll bite the bullet as long as I can get things back as close as possible to the way they were."
Meanwhile, using a new iPhone 12, I restored it using the same Apple ID as the 8 Plus that I have, using a later iCloud backup with iOS 14.6. To do that, I had to install 14.6 Beta 1 on the iPhone 12 to get the photos from that second iCloud backup.
(I have two iCloud backups; one is 14.6 and one is 14.4.2)
It worked. The iPhone 12 showed all the apps, all the notes, all the reminders, 6000 photos and another 700 photos that I lost on the iPhone 8. But it didn't show the other photos that were deleted when I turned off "Shared Albums" (Shared Albums is a misnomer in my opinion - I wish Apple would change it and inform their reps about its functionality).
I then checked Voice Memos and realized that out of 40 recordings, only 4 were playable, the other 36 appeared, but showed "Downloading" below each one. I waited for a few hours and nothing changed. I tried recording one memo and restarted the phone. Nothing changed.
Apple tech support couldn't help. I called again, talked to another rep, but he couldn't help either.
And in the process, for some reason, my 4000+ songs are no longer on the iPhone 8 Plus. "That's ok", I thought, "I'll just sync them with iTunes on a PC or with the Mac from my external HDD backup."
So now, I have two phones, each with a different number of photos on it. The photos I recovered by restoring the iPhone 12 from backup is higher than what I was left with on the iPhone 8 Plus. So I would prefer to keep the ones from the iPhone 12.
After that, I would need to add the photos that are stored on the external HDD and then sync the music.
But after I get the photos off of the iPhone 12, I still need to restore the iPhone 12 back to iOS 14.5.
So, the big question is, how do I do that?
Eventually, I want to put everything on the iPhone 12.
What's a guy to do now? I have no idea. Please help.
Please keep your comments helpful and constructive.
I changed my passwords, the problem persisted. I decided it would be best to overwrite the iOS code by installing a beta version (iOS 14.5 RC).
Early this past Monday morning, the phone prompted me to update to iOS 14.6 Beta 1. I didn't think much of it and installed it.
A few hours later I found out that Apple had released a stable iOS 14.5. So, I deleted the beta profile, restarted my phone and went to "General" under "Settings" to update to the publicly available iOS 14.5. The iPhone insisted that I have the most current version (iOS 14.6). I then connected it to a Macbook and tried to update the iOS. Again, the prompt said that I have the latest version - 14.6.
I called Apple and the rep said that I needed to restore my phone. Restore my phone?! I have 11,000 photos and 4000+ songs on there.
I talked to a few reps and one recommended I import the photos from the iPhone 8 Plus to my Mac and then sync with the iPhone 12.
I looked at the number of photos that was imported to the Mac and it didn't match the number that was in the iPhone's "About" page. So I called again. The next rep recommended I upload to iCloud and then sync the photos that way. Luckily, I still have a 14.4.2 backup on iCloud that I can use with public iOS 14.5.
On the iPhone 8 Plus, I went to "iCloud" in "Settings", made sure that photo backup was on and then noticed that "Shared Albums" was on too. I read the description for "Shared Albums" and decided that since I'm not sharing with anyone and no one is sharing with me, that I can turn that off. A rep also explained that "Shared Albums" are only for sharing with others. I wasn't sharing any albums with anyone.
I turned it off.
That's when I noticed that 5000 photos disappeared from my iPhone 8 Plus. I panicked. Then I realized that the photos that disappeared were probably the photos that I had synced with my iPhone a couple of years ago from the external HDD. But when I added the 'new' total number of photos from the "About" page with the number of photos I have on the external HDD, I was 100 photos short.
I figured, "that's ok. I'll bite the bullet as long as I can get things back as close as possible to the way they were."
Meanwhile, using a new iPhone 12, I restored it using the same Apple ID as the 8 Plus that I have, using a later iCloud backup with iOS 14.6. To do that, I had to install 14.6 Beta 1 on the iPhone 12 to get the photos from that second iCloud backup.
(I have two iCloud backups; one is 14.6 and one is 14.4.2)
It worked. The iPhone 12 showed all the apps, all the notes, all the reminders, 6000 photos and another 700 photos that I lost on the iPhone 8. But it didn't show the other photos that were deleted when I turned off "Shared Albums" (Shared Albums is a misnomer in my opinion - I wish Apple would change it and inform their reps about its functionality).
I then checked Voice Memos and realized that out of 40 recordings, only 4 were playable, the other 36 appeared, but showed "Downloading" below each one. I waited for a few hours and nothing changed. I tried recording one memo and restarted the phone. Nothing changed.
Apple tech support couldn't help. I called again, talked to another rep, but he couldn't help either.
And in the process, for some reason, my 4000+ songs are no longer on the iPhone 8 Plus. "That's ok", I thought, "I'll just sync them with iTunes on a PC or with the Mac from my external HDD backup."
So now, I have two phones, each with a different number of photos on it. The photos I recovered by restoring the iPhone 12 from backup is higher than what I was left with on the iPhone 8 Plus. So I would prefer to keep the ones from the iPhone 12.
After that, I would need to add the photos that are stored on the external HDD and then sync the music.
But after I get the photos off of the iPhone 12, I still need to restore the iPhone 12 back to iOS 14.5.
So, the big question is, how do I do that?
Eventually, I want to put everything on the iPhone 12.
What's a guy to do now? I have no idea. Please help.
Please keep your comments helpful and constructive.
