I am thinking to get iCloud to backup my phone as well as my family members' devices, can I subscribe the iCloud and they can use the same subscription to make full backup of their devices? How does it work?

I am thinking to get iCloud to backup my phone as well as my family members' devices, can I subscribe the iCloud and they can use the same subscription to make full backup of their devices? How does it work?

iPhone XS Max, iOS 14

Posted on Jan 5, 2021 6:33 PM

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Posted on Jan 5, 2021 8:36 PM

You each get 5 GB of free iCloud storage for everything, including backups, but you can only use your own 5 GB. If you upgrade one account to 200 GB of storage and set up Family Sharing then anybody that is part of the family can share in that 200 GB. Your stuff is still private.


iCloud: Set up Family Sharing to use with iCloud.com https://support.apple.com/HT208147


Share an iCloud storage plan with your family - Apple Support - "With Family Sharing, your family can share a single 200GB or 2TB storage plan" https://support.apple.com/HT208147


Whether or not you need to share a plan depends upon your regular iCloud usage. I have very little in iCloud and with 5 devices backed up to iCloud I still only use 1.2 GB of my 5 free.


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Jan 5, 2021 8:36 PM in response to SamL111

You each get 5 GB of free iCloud storage for everything, including backups, but you can only use your own 5 GB. If you upgrade one account to 200 GB of storage and set up Family Sharing then anybody that is part of the family can share in that 200 GB. Your stuff is still private.


iCloud: Set up Family Sharing to use with iCloud.com https://support.apple.com/HT208147


Share an iCloud storage plan with your family - Apple Support - "With Family Sharing, your family can share a single 200GB or 2TB storage plan" https://support.apple.com/HT208147


Whether or not you need to share a plan depends upon your regular iCloud usage. I have very little in iCloud and with 5 devices backed up to iCloud I still only use 1.2 GB of my 5 free.


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Jan 5, 2021 9:40 PM in response to SamL111

Yes.


Here's information of what is backed up. Some of it depends upon if you have other iCloud services turned on. For example, if you have sync Contacts turned on it won't be part of the backup because it will already be in its own spot in iCloud and will go back to the phone from there if you have to restore it. That's one of the reasons why my backups category is so tiny, because other things are in their own spots in my 5GB iCloud storage.


About backups for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - general comparison of using iTunes vs. iCloud - https://support.apple.com/HT204136


Change your iCloud feature settings [iOS and Mac] - https://support.apple.com/HT207689


Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - https://support.apple.com/HT204184



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Jan 5, 2021 8:45 PM in response to Limnos

Thanks for your reply. So my family members will be able to use the iCloud that I purchase say (2TB) to backup their phones? I mean not just the data but the whole phone backup which they able to restore when they change a new iPhone in future?

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I am thinking to get iCloud to backup my phone as well as my family members' devices, can I subscribe the iCloud and they can use the same subscription to make full backup of their devices? How does it work?

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