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User profile for user: sarayoo
sarayoo Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

WhatsApp Restore from iCloud fails on iPhone 7

Hi,


I just got a new iPhone 7 and as usual was trying to set this up using iCloud. All my previous iPhones have had no issues restoring chat history on WhatsApp from iCloud.


I lost my iPhone 6 Plus some weeks ago, but I have a backup on my WhatsApp in iCloud. Now when I install WhatsApp, after the initial configuration using the same Phone number I usually use, it gave an option to restore from iCloud. Tapping on it initiated a download of chat messages and when it reaches 100%, it gives an error saying "Couldn't restore chat history" with an option to either click Retry or Cancel.


I have ensured the following:

  1. Using the same Phone number as I usually use to register and backup WhatsApp.
  2. WhatsApp was previously backed up on my iPhone 6 Plus using the method: WhatsApp >> Settings >> Chat Settings >> Backup - this has worked for me from moving from iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, 5S, and iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus without any issues.
  3. I spoke to Apple and they say that it could be an issue with their hardware since there's a lot of changes in iPhone 7 compared to previous versions! They suggested I contact WhatsApp which I did, but as we all know, WhatsApp says that they have no control over iCloud backup!


Is anyone facing the same problem and are you able to solve it? Any solutions? Thank you!!


Please see the screenshots below:

User uploaded file

User uploaded file

iPhone 7, iOS 10.0.2

Posted on Oct 16, 2016 8:55 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: sarayoo
sarayoo Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Posted on Oct 18, 2016 8:53 PM

Hi,


I did contact them, what they told me is this: 'iPhone 7 hardware is "very different" from previous iPhones and some apps may not support all of its features. This could be a problem with the 3rd party app (which is WhatsApp in this case) and Apple may not be able to help.' They also asked me to try restoring my phone with a better WiFi connection.


I contacted WhatsApp, and they said, they have no control over iCloud backups and thus they may not be able to help - which is fair, because they do not have control over iCloud.


So this is the result now: my WhatsApp is finally okay! I lost about 3 months of data, but that is okay given the terrible situation I was in.


Let me list out everything I did so far:

  1. Bought a new iPhone 7, configured iCloud as usual, installed WhatsApp, it suggested that I have a backup of 1.6+GB in iCloud and I could restore from there. I opted to restore, but it failed.
  2. Tried to uninstall and install WhatsApp many times, but of no use.
  3. Tried to restart the iPhone multiple times, no use too.
  4. Spoke to Apple Support, and I've mentioned above what they told me.
  5. Contacted WhatsApp, I mentioned what they said too.
  6. Erased all contents from the iPhone 7, and set up the phone all over again, I chose to restore from iCloud backup. It took so long for each app to download, WhatsApp download appeared like half way and got stuck. Again, no use. WhatsApp wouldn't load.
  7. Erased all contents from the iPhone 7 again, set up the phone again, choosing to restore from iCloud. This time around, I deleted most other apps which were trying to load from iCloud, leaving only WhatsApp.
  8. Waited for 2 hours or so...it loaded half way and then I got a pop up message saying, "Restore completed".
  9. And I saw WhatsApp installed fully!! But then this happened:
  10. User uploaded file


11. As you can see in the screenshots, when I launched WhatsApp, it asked me to update. And when I click on that 'Update WhatsApp', it takes me to a page in App Store to open WhatsApp!!

12. I then restarted my iPhone 7, went to App Store directly, looked for apps updates, then updated WhatsApp via that. Launched WhatsApp, asked me to verify and stuff, and then the previous chat history was loaded, but only the history from 3 months before!


Sorry for the long winded explanations! But at the end of this, I really don't know what helped this to work! But this is what I've decided:

- Cancel my paid iCloud subscription after this year, 5GB free will be enough for me to deal with Contacts backup and stuff like that.

- Regularly backup my phone to my laptop.

- iCloud backup isn't reliable, from my experience! Also, the user having no control over iCloud backup, meaning, we physically can't access them via any means (not that I know) isn't helping at all!


Thanks!

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10 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: sarayoo
sarayoo Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Oct 18, 2016 8:53 PM in response to zinacef

Hi,


I did contact them, what they told me is this: 'iPhone 7 hardware is "very different" from previous iPhones and some apps may not support all of its features. This could be a problem with the 3rd party app (which is WhatsApp in this case) and Apple may not be able to help.' They also asked me to try restoring my phone with a better WiFi connection.


I contacted WhatsApp, and they said, they have no control over iCloud backups and thus they may not be able to help - which is fair, because they do not have control over iCloud.


So this is the result now: my WhatsApp is finally okay! I lost about 3 months of data, but that is okay given the terrible situation I was in.


Let me list out everything I did so far:

  1. Bought a new iPhone 7, configured iCloud as usual, installed WhatsApp, it suggested that I have a backup of 1.6+GB in iCloud and I could restore from there. I opted to restore, but it failed.
  2. Tried to uninstall and install WhatsApp many times, but of no use.
  3. Tried to restart the iPhone multiple times, no use too.
  4. Spoke to Apple Support, and I've mentioned above what they told me.
  5. Contacted WhatsApp, I mentioned what they said too.
  6. Erased all contents from the iPhone 7, and set up the phone all over again, I chose to restore from iCloud backup. It took so long for each app to download, WhatsApp download appeared like half way and got stuck. Again, no use. WhatsApp wouldn't load.
  7. Erased all contents from the iPhone 7 again, set up the phone again, choosing to restore from iCloud. This time around, I deleted most other apps which were trying to load from iCloud, leaving only WhatsApp.
  8. Waited for 2 hours or so...it loaded half way and then I got a pop up message saying, "Restore completed".
  9. And I saw WhatsApp installed fully!! But then this happened:
  10. User uploaded file


11. As you can see in the screenshots, when I launched WhatsApp, it asked me to update. And when I click on that 'Update WhatsApp', it takes me to a page in App Store to open WhatsApp!!

12. I then restarted my iPhone 7, went to App Store directly, looked for apps updates, then updated WhatsApp via that. Launched WhatsApp, asked me to verify and stuff, and then the previous chat history was loaded, but only the history from 3 months before!


Sorry for the long winded explanations! But at the end of this, I really don't know what helped this to work! But this is what I've decided:

- Cancel my paid iCloud subscription after this year, 5GB free will be enough for me to deal with Contacts backup and stuff like that.

- Regularly backup my phone to my laptop.

- iCloud backup isn't reliable, from my experience! Also, the user having no control over iCloud backup, meaning, we physically can't access them via any means (not that I know) isn't helping at all!


Thanks!

Reply
User profile for user: sarayoo
sarayoo Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Oct 17, 2016 8:42 AM in response to zinacef

Hi,

Thanks, but I've tried all of that and ensured that I comply all of those requirements they mentioned. I'm now trying the following:

- Erased everything off the iPhone 7

- Restoring from iCloud backup all over again

- it's a lot of data, so it is taking some time... will update the result once done.


Thanks!

Reply
User profile for user: sarayoo
sarayoo Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Oct 18, 2016 2:50 AM in response to zinacef

Hi,


Tried, but no use, that too failed (restoring from iCloud backup).

I have also tried to delete Whatsapp after restoring from iCloud >> then install Whatsapp again >> tried to restore from iCloud via WhatsApp (the option you get during registration of WhatsApp), gets the same error, "Couldn't restore chat history".


I am now erasing all contents again and planning to restore from iCloud and see what happens in my second attempt...


Sigh! Never had to go through this torture before...and I have a lot of very very important data on WhatsApp including my Work related stuff! 😟

Reply
User profile for user: Dismie
Dismie
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 12, 2017 6:51 PM in response to sarayoo

I got a new replacement iphone 7 with the updated iOS 11 system, then used icloud to restore everything. It took several hours for all the apps to be restored and many were stuck at "loading". What worried me was that Whatsapp was stuck forever (I have about 5 GB) and the loading pie icon was only half loaded, to the point where all other apps had finished restoring 3 hour later, except WhatsApp which stuck. I tried restarting the phone, and doing the restore 3 times, each time whatsapp was still stuck at a half pie loading icon. I even tried deleting and resinstalling whatsapp, but upon entering my phone number etc. the app claims I don’t have a backup history. I refused to give up so I tried the icloud restore one more time, this time at home using my home wifi rather than office wifi, after spending 6 hours in the office trying to restore, and finally it worked after 2-3 hours i.e. everything on whtasapp was kept, everything else was restored. I am not sure if it is the wifi or simply that I got impatient and should’ve waited for the full 6 hours rather than trying a restore function twice in between.

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WhatsApp Restore from iCloud fails on iPhone 7

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