Did iOS17/iPhone 15 quick start remove the option to choose between phone-to-phone transfer vs download-via-iCloud?

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Did iOS17/iPhone 15 quick start remove the option to choose between phone-to-phone transfer vs download-via-iCloud?

Hi, am "quick-starting" from an iPhone X on iOS 16.7 to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Was expecting to see this option (photo taken from YouTube) to allow me to choose between using iCloud as a source, or the phone itself as a source:

but instead, all I’ve got are the following:

Where's that particular option to choose “Download via iCloud” now? I did upgrade to iOS 17.02 (on the iPhone 15 Pro Max) during the process, but I "didn't get to choose"...

So did I ended up with the phone to phone or iCloud (to quick start)?

Why I’m uncertain is because after the process completed, I’m experiencing:

the local video files that’s was in my VLC player, is not being transferred over,
The Bluetooth pairing to my non-Apple smart watch & non-Apple wireless earbuds were gone,
Slack messaging app is signed out
Signal messaging app is not transferred
Gmail is signed out

Doesn’t sound too convincing (that it may not be phone-to-phone)?

Any other confirmation?

iPhone 15 Pro Max

Posted on Sep 25, 2023 08:08 AM

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Answer 1

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Lawrence Finch

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226,630 points

Sep 25, 2023 08:17 AM in response to ralliart12

It has nothing to do with phone-to-phone; the same thing will happen with iCloud restore.

When you transfer to a new phone Bluetooth pairings are not transferred, and never have been. You have to re-pair, because paired devices identify each other using hardware addresses of the paired devices and the new phone will have a different hardware address.
All apps will start signed out after transfer. This is a security feature. If you have previously enabled iCloud Keychain it will “remember” your sign-in settings and sign you in the first time you use the app.

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Answer 2

Sep 25, 2023 10:27 AM in response to ralliart12

I have no idea and no knowledge of Apple’s policies. You can still restore from iCloud; just set up the phone as new, then restore an iCloud backup. However, are you sure you have an iCloud backup to restore from? iCloud+ has 2 independent functions. iCloud backups, and iCloud sync. It’s confusing because they both have the same name prefix. But they have no connection with each other. Go to Settings/[your name]/iCloud. You will see a bunch of switches (with iOS 16 also tap Show All). When you turn on a switch that data type will sync to iCloud. If you do this on multiple devices that share an Apple ID the selected data will sync to all of those devices.

You can also turn on iCloud Backups. This will back up your phone every night if the phone is plugged in, connected to Wi-Fi and locked.

But note that anything that you sync by the first method will be excluded from the iCloud backups.

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Answer 3

ralliart12 Author

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12 points

Oct 7, 2023 08:55 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Hi Lawrence, some updates:

I was still trying to deepen my understanding of the various "paths" that Quick Start can lead me down and I have stumbled upon new discoveries:

I was asking around in YouTube and one of the commentators remarked that he encountered this screen that did not immediately provide the "use-iCloud" path even though he had an iCloud backup:

What I suspect is, at this screen:

if I'd clicked "Other Options" instead of "Continue", I would have been brought to the "use-iCloud" options (amongst a slew of other options), i.e. like this:

So this may be one I didn't see all these options (cos I press Continue instead of Other Options). In fact, there is exactly one video demonstrating this (6m16second mark):

https://youtu.be/cncO3U9VjE0

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Answer 4

ralliart12 Author

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12 points

Sep 26, 2023 07:38 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Lawrence Finch wrote:

…However, are you sure you have an iCloud backup to restore from?…

I went to check my old phone (the one I was transferring from), indeed iCloud backup was not turned on. Could that be the reason, i.e. the Quick Start process did not present me with the “Download from iCloud” option since technically I could not have used it?

if so, I guess I wasn’t expecting the Quick Start function to be so polished/intelligent?

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Answer 5

Sep 26, 2023 07:49 AM in response to ralliart12

ralliart12 wrote:

Lawrence Finch wrote:

…However, are you sure you have an iCloud backup to restore from?…

I went to check my old phone (the one I was transferring from), indeed iCloud backup was not turned on. Could that be the reason, i.e. the Quick Start process did not present me with the “Download from iCloud” option since technically I could not have used it?

if so, I guess I wasn’t expecting the Quick Start function to be so polished/intelligent?

That’s exactly the reason. It checks for an iCloud backup, and also for a computer backup, and only offers what is available.

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Answer 6

ralliart12 Author

Level 1

12 points

Sep 25, 2023 09:40 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Thanks for explaining that either approach will yield the same attrition. May I know why that option to use iCloud does not appear (for me to choose in the first place)?

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Did iOS17/iPhone 15 quick start remove the option to choose between phone-to-phone transfer vs download-via-iCloud?

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