[suninmoon]

I would like to setup my new iPhone as a new device and not restore a backup. Does anyone know if Watch OS 4/iOS 11 backs up my watch data to iCloud so it can be restored without having to restore it from an iPhone backup?

Thanks
Josh

[Sherry_B]

The watch data is on your iPhone so you would need to restore from iPhone backup to get the info.

[TripleOne]

If you have backed up your iPhone onto iCloud, it should’ve included your Health data too. If you restore your iPhone that way, it should then be available on your new iPhone.

[doogald]

If you want just workout/health data, there is a way that is supposed to work with iTunes, though I have never tried it. Using the app "Decipher Phone Refresh", you make an encrypted backup with iTunes on your computer. Then you run Decipher Phone Refresh and follow the prompts to allow it to create a version of the backup that has only health data, and then restore that to the phone using iTunes. It will only overwrite that data on the phone, nothing else. (The app walks you through all of the steps.)

Workout data is really not stored on the watch, as far as I can tell, at least in a way that is exposed to the user. The data syncs to the Health data on your phone, and you can look at past workouts in the Activity app on your phone, not on the watch. (Though the workout app does remember which workout you did last in each category and adds a "Quick Start" for that workout - I'm not sure if the watch will get that when you restore from Decipher Phone Refresh.) So, this may do what you want, at least as much as can be done on a phone on which you don't do a full restore. What I'm not sure about are the achievements in the Activity app.

So, again, I have never tried it, but others have. And it's not iCloud. I do wish that Apple would add that functionality - make health data something that is synced with iCloud from the phone, or at least make it an option for those who wish to risk having health data stored outside the phone.

See https://deciphertools.com/decipher-phone-refresh.html

See also https://forums.imore.com/ios-10/3914...ml#post2965156

By the way, I have tried the app mentioned in one of the posts in that thread (Health Data Importer) and it did not work the way I wanted to - workout and activity data did not show up in the activity app, no achievements, etc. Saying that, I have not use Decipher Phone Refresh either, but it may be worth a try? (It's free for health and activity data restores.)

[doogald]

Ok, never mind...

With iOS 11 and watchOS4, apparently your phone syncs workout data with iCloud.

See Serenity Caldwell's watch OS 4 review at https://www.imore.com/watchos-4-review - scroll down to the section "Save Me"

Here's a potentially huge feature in iOS 11 that intersects with watchOS 4: Apple now supports iCloud sync for your Health data on iPhone, which means any health data you sync from your Apple Watch to your iPhone gets encrypted and stored in iCloud at will. In plain terms, this mostly frees the Apple Watch from one of its most frustrating limitations: not being able to pair to a new iPhone without first restoring the entire iPhone backup.


Yes, if you start from scratch on a new iPhone you'll still lose custom watch faces, app lists, and your general Apple Watch preferences, but you'll no longer lose your heart rate or workout records, your Activity Rings, and past activity. It's a huge improvement for those of us who frequently need to switch iPhone models but don't want to lose out on tracking Apple Watch data, and I'm very happy to see the change.


Of course, you still need to sync the Apple Watch to an iPhone to get that Health data to iCloud — Apple doesn't yet support direct syncing between the watch and iCloud. (Yet. Another item to add to the watchOS 5 wishlist.)