HT204518: Back up your Apple Watch

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doitforeva12
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Backup for apple watch?

I understand based on this article that the apple watch will backup when being unpaired. however it just says the watch will backup automatically. Is the watch backing up constantly to the iPhone as it is being used? or only when unpaired? Seems crazy that the watch would only backup as it is being unpaired. What if the watch is lost of stolen and the user doesn't have a chance to unpair it?

Apple Watch, iOS 8.3

Posted on May 30, 2015 6:51 AM

by Meg St._Clair,Solvedanswer
Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair
Level 9 (58,449 points)
iPhone
A:

No, I don't know of any other way. However, there's simply not much information stored on the Apple Watch. Activity data is continuously transferred to the Activity app on the phone. Messages, calendar, contacts, email, all are simply a mirror of what's on the phone. Mostly, it would be settings that would need to be backed up.

 

I'm sure, as an Apple employee, you have a way far more effective than submitting feedback using the public feedback link, to either get the information you need or suggest that it be made available to you. I wish you luck.

Posted on May 30, 2015 11:24 AM

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doitforeva12

Q: Backup for apple watch?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Averythomas,

    Averythomas Averythomas May 30, 2015 6:55 AM in response to doitforeva12
    Level 4 (1,466 points)
    May 30, 2015 6:55 AM in response to doitforeva12

    It will backup by itself but if it is stolen the person will only be able to restore it not access your data.

  • by doitforeva12,

    doitforeva12 doitforeva12 May 30, 2015 7:02 AM in response to doitforeva12
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 7:02 AM in response to doitforeva12

    I get that. And i know that it will be activation locked via the iCloud account. That isn't my concern. Just using that as an example of a time when unpairing is not an option. My question is when / how is the apple watch backing up to the iPhone not including the backup done when being unpaired. How can one check to make sure the apple watch is backed up automatically?

  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair May 30, 2015 7:14 AM in response to doitforeva12
    Level 9 (58,449 points)
    iPhone
    May 30, 2015 7:14 AM in response to doitforeva12

    From the manual:

     

     

    Restore Apple Watch from a backup

    Apple Watch content backs up automatically to your paired iPhone, and you can restore it from a stored backup. Apple Watch backups are included as part of your iPhone backups to iCloud or iTunes, but you can’t view information in the backups in iCloud.

    Backing up and restoring Apple Watch. When paired with an iPhone, Apple Watch content is backed up continuously to iPhone. If you unpair the devices, a backup is performed first. If you repair Apple Watch or get a new one, you can choose Restore from Backup and select a stored backup on your iPhone.

     

     

  • by doitforeva12,

    doitforeva12 doitforeva12 May 30, 2015 8:38 AM in response to Meg St._Clair
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 8:38 AM in response to Meg St._Clair

    Thanks. That is helpful. I'm actually a texhnician at an apple retail store and we are looking for clarification on this to properly educate our customers. The documentation we have doesn't give specifics regarding the backup. Just the same basic info that seems to be available to public. So we are aware that unpairing the phome and watch will create a backup at that moment. And while the watch is connected to iPhone it will continually backup to phone and then I turn be backed up to iCloud or iTunes when the phone gets backed up. It would be nice if the latest backup for the watch was listed in the watch app on iPhone. Or at least some method To confirm that the watch is automatically backing up without issue. To my knowledge there is no way to verify a successful watch backup. Does anyone know of a way besides connecting a new watch and trying to restore the backup

  • by Meg St._Clair,Solvedanswer

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair May 30, 2015 11:24 AM in response to doitforeva12
    Level 9 (58,449 points)
    iPhone
    May 30, 2015 11:24 AM in response to doitforeva12

    No, I don't know of any other way. However, there's simply not much information stored on the Apple Watch. Activity data is continuously transferred to the Activity app on the phone. Messages, calendar, contacts, email, all are simply a mirror of what's on the phone. Mostly, it would be settings that would need to be backed up.

     

    I'm sure, as an Apple employee, you have a way far more effective than submitting feedback using the public feedback link, to either get the information you need or suggest that it be made available to you. I wish you luck.

  • by doitforeva12,

    doitforeva12 doitforeva12 May 30, 2015 11:49 AM in response to Meg St._Clair
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 30, 2015 11:49 AM in response to Meg St._Clair

    Thanks for your replies. They were helpful. We have reached out to retail store support for some more clarificatIon. Hopefully they will give us the information we are looking for. Your help today was much appreciated

  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair May 30, 2015 12:54 PM in response to doitforeva12
    Level 9 (58,449 points)
    iPhone
    May 30, 2015 12:54 PM in response to doitforeva12

    doitforeva12 wrote:

     

    Thanks for your replies. They were helpful. We have reached out to retail store support for some more clarificatIon. Hopefully they will give us the information we are looking for. Your help today was much appreciated

    I certainly hope that they do!

  • by Michael Bradshaw,

    Michael Bradshaw Michael Bradshaw Sep 25, 2015 2:09 PM in response to doitforeva12
    Level 5 (4,143 points)
    Sep 25, 2015 2:09 PM in response to doitforeva12

    I agree that trusting two types of Automatic backup seems a little naive. You can open the settings app on your iPhone

     

    Settings.app > General > Storage & iCloud Usage > Manage Storage under STORAGE and not under ICLOUD > scroll all the content up, again and again to find Watch (usually the smallest item so it's at the bottom of the list) and go to Usage - local storage.

     

    In my case, two of the three watches in the household have not backed up in over a week so either Apple Watch OS 2.0 has a bug or iOS 9.0.1 has a bug that is causing the automatic backup to not be automatic or to fail. The one that is still backing up hasn't updated to watchOS 2.0

  • by Alexroet,

    Alexroet Alexroet Dec 24, 2015 5:34 AM in response to doitforeva12
    Level 2 (323 points)
    Dec 24, 2015 5:34 AM in response to doitforeva12

    I Asked the same question at the Apple Store, and was told that the watch backs up when you charge it. (in addition to unpairing)