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iCloud Backup Broken After iOS 9 Upgrade

iCloud Backup on both my iPhone and iPad have been working fine for years until I upgraded to iOS 9. After the upgrade it said my latest backup was "Never". When I pressed "Backup Now" the progress bar flashed quickly then went back to saying my latest backup was "Never" (no error messages).


I decided to try turning iCloud Backup off and back on again. When I try to turn in on it says "iCloud Backup Failed. There was a problem enabling iCloud Backup.".


Any ideas or suggestions on how to fix?

iPhone 6, iOS 9

Posted on Sep 17, 2015 10:18 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 17, 2015 2:34 PM

I have this problem too immediately after updating my iPad mini retina (model ME280LL/A) after upgrading to iOS 9.

previous version was 8.4.1

I have just completed a backup before the upgrade.

guess I better not update any of my other iDevices?

This is an major problem.

553 replies

Sep 23, 2015 4:45 PM in response to kiriakosa

Deleting the exising backup is only one part of the issue. I was able to do that and somehow trick my phone into doing a manual wifi backup. The big issue is that automatic backup doesn't work. About half of the people I know that updated to iOS 9 can't autobackup. For me, I've even restored and set up as a new phone (nuclear option). Even after I redownloaded my apps from the App Store, keeping no old or existing data on the phone, it still wont autobackup.


G D ridiculous.

Sep 23, 2015 11:55 PM in response to J. Arko

Not sure if anyone else said this but it seems that the photo library is backed up by default in iOS 9, even you are upgrading from iOS 8 and it was turned off.

If you have more than 5 GB of photos and videos the backup cannot be completed because it exceeds your free storage space.

Purchasing more storage fixes the issue, but maybe you need to backup only the apps and settings, presumably you are using another Photo Library backup solution.

FIX: Go to iCloud / Manage Storage / go to your iOS 9 iPhone or iPad backup then TURN OFF the Photo Library backup.

That's it! Your next backup won't include the Photo library, will be smaller in size and it will be done successfully.

Sep 24, 2015 6:46 AM in response to leJuan5150

I have this issue to. I was told by Apple last weekend that the 9.0.1 patch would address the issue, which it didn't. I spent over an hour on the phone with Apple this morning, with the second half hour with 2nd level product support. She said it was not an iOS issue, but a storage issue. Basically saying that my backups were too big for the space I have available.


My understanding of iCloud and iCloud back-ups is that it backs-up information about the content you have purchased, but not the purchased content itself. So it backs up app settings (if you have them turned on in Manage Storage), but not the apps themselves.When you restore from an iCloud backup, your purchased content is automatically downloaded from the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store, etc.For none purchased content, it will back it up if selected in Settings.As I have photos turned off, and music is not backed-up, most apps on my phone turned off in Manage Storage) then my backups are actually small. My backups on my Mac average about 200MB. The latest one is only 136MB. In Manage iCloud Storage on my iPhone/Settings, the last backup size shows 129MB, with the next backup size at 36MB. (even though it won't actually backup). My understanding from AppleSupport pages is that my iCloud Storage is enough for backups, especially as I have no other content stored. If it was iCloud storage size issue, then I would receive a warning stating that. I don’t.

I am apparently incorrect. I was told by a 2nd level support person that everytime I do a back up, it backsup ALL the data on the phone (that is not turned off in settings, and is not music.). So I was told that my 54GB on my phone minus the 32GB of music is backed up each and every time. It does not act like Time Machine, which only backs up changes after the initial back up. Am I crazy or is this nonsence?

Sep 24, 2015 7:59 AM in response to brit66

So I went with a hunch that iOS9 was not able to recognize an iOS8 back-up (this was documented with the iOS9 Beta). So I deleted the backup file from my iPhone. However, it did not delete the file. So I then deleted it using my iMac with System Prefs/iCloud/Manage, and it successfully deleted the backup. I then logged out of iCloud on my iPhone, then just for good measure restarted my phone and then logged back in to iCloud. And voila, the issue is fixed and I have full iPhone backups. So my hunch was correct, and the Apple level 2 product specialist had no idea what they were talking about. Imagine that.

Sep 24, 2015 8:12 AM in response to Papaylan

I think the update resets the backup settings in a way that all apps get backed up and then the available iCloud storage is too small.


Solution (worked in my case):

Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage > This iPhone


Deactivate all the apps which consume too much space (Photo Library in my case).


You may also try to delete the backup, if you can still access it.


User uploaded file

Sep 24, 2015 8:16 AM in response to farragut

I had to delete the iOS 8 BUs for my iPhone and iPad via my iMac to get manual BUs to work.


Since Monday, the iPhone has Auto BU'ed, the since Tuesday the iPad has also Auto BU'ed


Whether these are actually valid BUs, is unknown. I will be Restoring to my iPhone 6s tomorrow from iTunes.


I have not gone to 9.0.1 yet

Sep 24, 2015 8:29 AM in response to 'ZiG'

My storage plan is large enough to cover all my devices. Backup still doesn't work. ALL OF "SETTINGS" IS FROZEN. Attempts to change CELLULAR ACCESS for apps fail, toggles switching right back to where they were before the iOS 9 update. Same goes for changing the LANGUAGES to which Keyboard has access. Same goes for RESTRICTED ACCESS settings. NOTHING is changeable. Is this glitchy software, or what?


In the various threads at Apple Support Community complaining about these different kinds of freezes, (the most inconveniencing of which has to be frozen cellular access, with no access to "Maps", "Mail", "Uber" or Safari for people away from their wifi) many solutions have been suggested, none of which have worked except, for a few, going back to 8.4.1 - if they backed up before downloading IOS 9, which most people apparently didn't.


There has been nothing in the news, and no warning from Apple, in spite of many reporting having called to report the various problems. Every day, newly surprised and dismayed people who have just updated to IOS 9 seem to be joining already established threads or starting their own, complaining about not being able to backup their devices, control restricted access, or use apps that are important to them while on cellular.


Honesty and openness from Apple about these problems would, in the long run, retain trust among customers, and ultimately, customers. In the short run, a whole lot of new model iPhone 6S's will be sold on Friday to unsuspecting customers. Which is more important, 4th quarter earnings or long term customer loyalty?


Or is this malware? Yikes! Communicate with us, Apple.


😐

iCloud Backup Broken After iOS 9 Upgrade

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