Wynn Roberts
Level 1 (4 points)
iCloud

Q: why has iCloud back up become so difficult?

My iPhone never gets past estimating time for backup and my iPad gets there eventually but now says it will take over 12 hours to complete! Previous backups for both devices have only taken minutes (apart from the first).

iCloud is as supplied by Apple, space shows 167gb free

iPad is model MD368B/A and iPhone is 6S plus, both running IOS 9, 9.3.2 on iPad and 9.3.3 on iPhone.

Posted on Jul 28, 2016 9:12 AM

by zinacef,Solvedanswer
zinacef zinacef
Level 4 (3,320 points)
Applications
A:

See this -- If iCloud Backup couldn’t be completed or you can’t restore - Apple Support

Posted on Jul 28, 2016 9:23 AM

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Wynn Roberts

Q: why has iCloud back up become so difficult?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by zinacef,Solvedanswer

    zinacef zinacef Jul 28, 2016 9:23 AM in response to Wynn Roberts
    Level 4 (3,320 points)
    Applications
    Jul 28, 2016 9:23 AM in response to Wynn Roberts

    See this -- If iCloud Backup couldn’t be completed or you can’t restore - Apple Support

  • by Winston Churchill,Helpful

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jul 28, 2016 9:33 AM in response to Wynn Roberts
    Level 10 (103,402 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 28, 2016 9:33 AM in response to Wynn Roberts

    I suspect the back will complete if you try enough times and leave it long enough. I'm afraid you might struggle with troubleshooting, you are correct there appears to be some sort of underlying issue with back ups that is taking a long time for Apple to resolve.

  • by Wynn Roberts,

    Wynn Roberts Wynn Roberts Jul 29, 2016 6:18 AM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Jul 29, 2016 6:18 AM in response to Winston Churchill

    To everyone who has a problem with iCloud backups from IOS9+ devices. I have found a solution to this. Winston, thanks for your suggestion, I waited patiently for nearly 24 hours for my iPad to get about two thirds through a backup (I think it was looping in some way as my Broadband usage exceeded its monthly limit during the period). With all that time on my hands I searched more diligently on the communities boards. The solution, which has now worked for me is:

    1. Delete old Backups, make sure you bring up All Apps and wait for it to complete before pressing delete or you'll get the 'Cannot do this at this time' message.
    2. Disable Auto backups
    3. Reenable auto backups and you should get a 'Latest Backup, Never'. Then press Back up now.
    4. The back up should start after a few moments. Note this will be full backup and will take an hour or so, depending on the amount of data you have on your device.

    That should do it, it has for me. Good luck all.

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jul 29, 2016 6:33 AM in response to Wynn Roberts
    Level 10 (103,402 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 29, 2016 6:33 AM in response to Wynn Roberts

    I hope it has fixed it for you and you haven't just reset the process and the your back ups start to grow again in size over time.

     

    My iPhone back up got up to about 28 GB, I removed it much as you did and started it again. At first the back up was 2.8 GB, since then it has grown again and is now at 16.2 GB, at the moment it's still backing up at night so I haven't bothered trying to reset it again yet.

     

    I am taking regular iTunes back ups too though, I'm not certain the iCloud back up would be usable should I ever need it, while it's behaving like this.

  • by Wynn Roberts,

    Wynn Roberts Wynn Roberts Jul 29, 2016 6:39 AM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Jul 29, 2016 6:39 AM in response to Winston Churchill

    Thanks Winston. Certainly working at the moment and the size of backups, both iPad and iPhone, are as expected. I'll monitor for the next month and add a postscript with the observed results. Thanks again.