Why are playlists not included in iPhone backups?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Why are playlists not included in iPhone backups?

I just setup my new iPhone 6 by restoring from an iTunes backup of my iPhone 5s, and I was surprised to find that playlists i had on my 5s were not on my 6. Any ideas why?

Also, although all my photos, contacts, iMessages, etc. are on my new 6 now, the "used" storage amount is much smaller than what my 5s showed - by about 18GB. Some of it is due to cloud content not being downloaded, but it does not seem to add up. Is there other stuff that did not get pulled from the 5s to the 6 through the backup-and-restore process?

Thanks in advance.

iPhone 6, iOS 8.1.3

Posted on Feb 6, 2015 7:29 PM

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Answer 1

Matt_M.

Community Operations

Feb 9, 2015 7:00 AM in response to cc:P

Hey cc:P,

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities and congrats on your new iPhone 6. Check out the following section from this article on backing up:

Should I use iTunes or iCloud to back up my iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch? - Apple Support

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204136

Keep in mind that iTunes Backup doesn't create a duplicate back up of your movies, music, podcasts, and apps. When you back up, your media content is synced from your primary computer using iTunes.

When you restore a backup, your media (including playlists) is not yet restored to your device. You’ll need to sync the new phone with your iTunes library to transfer over all of the media content.

Thanks,

Matt M.

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Answer 2

Ralph9430

Level 7

21,726 points

Feb 9, 2015 7:12 AM in response to cc:P

Your playlists should be in iTunes and can be readied to the iPhone by syncing with iTunes on the computer.

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Answer 3

cc:P Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 9, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Matt_M.

Thanks for the responses. I did an iTunes+Cable back-up and restore - not an iCloud back-up and restore. I can understand the iCloud limitations, but why doesn't a cabled back-up get everything? Also, the playlists I am referring to were created on the iPhone, and are not in my iTunes library. Why would those not be backed-up?

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