Why can’t I view text messages in iCloud? Why can you select for text messages to backup to iCloud if you can’t even view them on iCloud? That’s the whole purpose of backing them up to the iCloud, so they won’t be lost.
iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 15
There is no app or viewer for messages at icloud.com. Messages app requires a device to view your messages.
Why can you select for text messages to backup to iCloud if you can’t even view them on iCloud?
Messages are backed up to iCloud only if the device is not set to use Messages in iCloud. See footnote 2 in What does iCloud back up?: When you use Messages in iCloud...your content is automatically stored in iCloud. That means that they're not included in your iCloud Backup.
My issue is I’m thinking about switching to android but I have text messages on my iPhone from my brother who was killed on February 25, 2016 and I don’t want to lose them. I want to know I can save them somewhere with access to view them if I get an android and the messages don’t transfer over. Is my only option to screen shot the conversations?
It’s driven by end-to-end encryption.
iMessages are encrypted so that ONLY the writer and reader(s) can open them.
This requires a public/private key pair which - for now at least - resides ONLY on “Trusted Devices”
They are stored as part of the backup/synched to iCloud but can't be viewed in iCloud. They will be restored to a new device or when using iMessage with your Apple ID on another device.
Why can’t I view my text messages in iCloud?
