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Do I really need to iCloud backup my phone when all my relevant data is already on the cloud in some form or fashion without the backup?

Do I need to waste iCloud space with an iPhone backup when I'm already using iCloud for Photos and Notes? And every other one of my apps is separately saved in the cloud. I use LastPass for passwords and it's separately on their cloud. I use different non-apple mail exchanges for Calendar and email. I have my contacts on my Google account. All the other random apps have their own data saved on the cloud (Facebook, Intuit, Waze, etc.).


So what am I gaining from a backup of my iPhone? I just got a new iPhone and I think I pretty much set it up manually because I wanted a clean slate after 3 years on my old phone.

Posted on Sep 23, 2022 10:10 AM

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Posted on Sep 23, 2022 11:18 AM

I'm still lost on what exactly is getting backed up? All the settings like turning on/off location services, tracking across apps, etc.? Because I just redid all those on my new Iphone 14 although I don't think I restored a backup because, as I mentioned in my original post, I wanted a fresh start. Still took me about an hour or two to get all setup again. Then the fun part was having a clean pallette for home screen and widget setups and I just downloaded apps from the app store on an as needed basis.

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Sep 23, 2022 11:18 AM in response to LotusPilot

I'm still lost on what exactly is getting backed up? All the settings like turning on/off location services, tracking across apps, etc.? Because I just redid all those on my new Iphone 14 although I don't think I restored a backup because, as I mentioned in my original post, I wanted a fresh start. Still took me about an hour or two to get all setup again. Then the fun part was having a clean pallette for home screen and widget setups and I just downloaded apps from the app store on an as needed basis.

Sep 23, 2022 10:35 AM in response to belawyer

Your device will not “waste” your available iCloud storage quota - in fact, the reverse is true.


iOS/iPadOS devices are very efficient in only including data in the iCloud backup - along with all the device settings - that are not otherwise synchronised with iCloud.


Your iCloud backup will facilitate easy restoration of your device should it be necessary to restore your devices - such as a critical failure, damage or theft.

Do I really need to iCloud backup my phone when all my relevant data is already on the cloud in some form or fashion without the backup?

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