I lost all my health data with a restore, wow

[spinedoc77]

I have a ton of health data on my iPhone. Workouts 4-5 days per week, sleep tracking, heartrate and blood pressure information, etc etc. Yesterday I had to restore my phone from a backup, just a straight backup done through cable and iTunes. Well to my surprise I lost ALL of my health data, every single iota. There was no warning, and I don't believe there is any kind of backup other than an external export. Just want to say that stinks and turns me off to Apple, as I was overall very excited to track my health through their app.

OK it's not all complaining, I did have a question. So my workout data was saved in Motifit, and my sleep data in Sleep++, is there any way to import it back into the Health app? Now I feel fragmented, with my health data spread out over more than one app and would love to get it back into Health.

From what I read Health will backup to icloud in iOS11, so can't wait for that. But until then I'm quite miffed at losing my data with no warning at all. I lost other data and settings as well and the Apple restore that I used to think was perfect isn't much better than on other systems these days IMO.

 

[CTHarrryH]

When you backup to iTunes do you ENCRYPT backup - it says if you do it will back up the health data - haven't tried a restore recently to check but that is what is says on iTunes screen.

 

[gwhizkids]

When you backup to iTunes do you ENCRYPT backup - it says if you do it will back up the health data - haven't tried a restore recently to check but that is what is says on iTunes screen.

This is actually pointed out by Apple somewhere else, too. And had been addressed many, many times in these forums.

Bottom line, people: if you're going to use a beta on your daily device, take the time to understand what you need to do to protect against stuff like this.

 

[Mlrollin91]

It has been know for over 3 years now that health data is only backed up with an iTunes encrypted or iCloud backup. It was even mentioned in the keynote when health was introduced in iOS 8.

I'm also fairly confident that iTunes will warn you that some data will be lost if not encrypted. It's possible you have iTunes warnings turned off and you had previously dismissed it in the past. All my stuff is encrypted now so I am unable to test to get the screenshot.

 

[Rok73]

You didn't backup correctly. It's important to inform oneself before deleting and restoring.

 

[EM2013]

To back up Health and Fitness data, you need to use iCloud or an encrypted iTunes backup.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204518

 

[zorinlynx]

It's a bit absurd that the data is not backed up if you don't encrypt the backup. Even if the entire disk is already encrypted, iTunes happily throws away valuable data.

 

[Mlrollin91]

It's a bit absurd that the data is not backed up if you don't encrypt the backup. Even if the entire disk is already encrypted, iTunes happily throws away valuable data.

How would your drive being encrypted prevent someone from plugging in their iOS device into your computer and restoring their phone to your backup?

 

[KALLT]

How would your drive being encrypted prevent someone from plugging in their iOS device into your computer and restoring their phone to your backup?

By also protecting your computer perhaps? It seems rather obvious to me that your computer would become responsible for securing the data. I think Apple should definitely improve this workflow.

 

[Mlrollin91]

By also protecting your computer perhaps? It seems rather obvious to me that your computer would become responsible for securing the data. I think Apple should definitely improve this workflow.

I'm not following. My computer is protected, and my drive is encrypted. But if my computer is unlocked, that does not stop someone from plugging in their device and restoring my backup. That only takes 2 minutes. There are hundreds of scenarios where your computer may not be locked and you step away for 2 minutes. If my iTunes backup in encrypted they could not do this. All it is is a second layer of security by needing an encrypted iTunes backup. I have no problem with this.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Why not encrypt backups? Seems like a very small price to pay for a level of security.

 

[simonmet]

I don't get the attitude in some of the replies in this thread (not the excellent first reply).

So the OP wasn't aware of something and lost most or all of their health data. Kindly explain why and what happened so they can learn and prevent it in future. That is all that is needed, not a snarky attitude!

Just because you know something doesn't mean everybody does. Just because most people know something doesn't mean everybody does. Warnings are easy to click past if and when they exist either inadvertently or through force or habit. We all make mistakes.

Not everybody watches Keynotes or remembers every single minor detail from them! The OP didn't state they were on a beta either (don't know where that came from).

It has been know for over 3 years now that health data is only backed up with an iTunes encrypted or iCloud backup.

Known to whom? Obviously not the OP so what's your point? I in fact didn't know this either and I'm a long-time iOS user. Probably because I don't use health tracking but that's beside the point. I've backed up and restored my phone hundreds of times and I wasn't aware.

You didn't backup correctly. It's important to inform oneself before deleting and restoring.

Let me guess, you've never made a mistake on computers or devices because you weren't aware of something?

How about less snarky, blaming, superiority attitude and more friendliness? Is that too much to ask?

 

[Mlrollin91]

I don't get the attitude in some of the replies in this thread (not the excellent first reply).

So the OP wasn't aware of something and lost most or all of their health data. Kindly explain why and what happened so they can learn and prevent it in future.

Just because you know something doesn't mean everybody does. Just because most people know something doesn't mean everybody does. Warnings are easy to click past if and when they exist either inadvertently or through force or habit. We all make mistakes.

Not everybody watches Keynotes or remembers every single minor detail from them! The OP didn't state they were on a beta either (don't know where that came from).



How about less snarky, blaming, superiority attitude and more friendliness? Is that too much to ask?

The issue is, the OP is clearly "miffed off at Apple". The OP stated twice that there were no warnings. Its been over 3 years since health was introduced, and it has been said hundreds of times on the forums that an encrypted backup is required. (The OP has been here for 8 years, with thousands of posts) In addition, there are warnings that the OP probably just missed. So the issue is he is angry at Apple for the lack of his research.

Even in iTunes it directly states (without having to ignore a warning or a warning popping up) that encrypted is required to back up health and other settings.



Therefore, as unfortunate as the situation is, its entirely on the OP and he should not be angry at Apple for his negligence.
[doublepost=1497390333][/doublepost]

Known to whom? Obviously not the OP so what's your point? I in fact didn't know this either and I'm a long-time iOS user. Probably because I don't use health tracking but that's beside the point. I've backed up and restored my phone hundreds of times and I wasn't aware.

Its not besides the point. If you don't use health/activity tracking then you have no information on your device that you hold valuable. If one holds this information as valuable to them, it is up to that person to do research to make sure the data is restorable before wiping their device. Again that is not Apple's fault and is entirely on the user. Therefore, because you don't use health, you would not have needed to know this information or would have needed to actively seek this information. So, you can not compare yourself to the OP.

Anyone that is using health should be aware of how backing up health works. Again, its not like Apple hides this information, its directly in iTunes right in the backup section. In addition to support articles and documents across the web.

 

[gwhizkids]

I don't get the attitude in some of the replies in this thread (not the excellent first reply).

So the OP wasn't aware of something and lost most or all of their health data. Kindly explain why and what happened so they can learn and prevent it in future. That is all that is needed, not a snarky attitude!

Just because you know something doesn't mean everybody does. Just because most people know something doesn't mean everybody does. Warnings are easy to click past if and when they exist either inadvertently or through force or habit. We all make mistakes.

Not everybody watches Keynotes or remembers every single minor detail from them! The OP didn't state they were on a beta either (don't know where that came from).



Known to whom? Obviously not the OP so what's your point? I in fact didn't know this either and I'm a long-time iOS user. Probably because I don't use health tracking but that's beside the point. I've backed up and restored my phone hundreds of times and I wasn't aware.



Let me guess, you've never made a mistake on computers or devices because you weren't aware of something?

How about less snarky, blaming, superiority attitude and more friendliness? Is that too much to ask?

Remember: we are talking about someone restoring to an earlier version of iOS from a developer beta. Some level of knowledge is assumed if you are doing those things. If you do not have that level of knowledge or skill, it may reasonably be asked if you should be undertaking those activities. Use of betas inherently carries a degree of risk to it.

I do agree with you, though, that there could be less snarkiness.

 

[639051]

By also protecting your computer perhaps? It seems rather obvious to me that your computer would become responsible for securing the data. I think Apple should definitely improve this workflow.

Improve it = Remove encryption requirement thereby exposing personal data in a breach. Yeah, Apple isn't going to do that.
[doublepost=1497458353][/doublepost]

Remember: we are talking about someone restoring to an earlier version of iOS from a developer beta. Some level of knowledge is assumed if you are doing those things. If you do not have that level of knowledge or skill, it may reasonably be asked if you should be undertaking those activities. Use of betas inherently carries a degree of risk to it.

I do agree with you, though, that there could be less snarkiness.

Nah, snark is totally okay.

 

[KALLT]

Remember: we are talking about someone restoring to an earlier version of iOS from a developer beta. Some level of knowledge is assumed if you are doing those things. If you do not have that level of knowledge or skill, it may reasonably be asked if you should be undertaking those activities. Use of betas inherently carries a degree of risk to it.

That’s just an opportune excuse. This would have happened with any other version, developer or otherwise.

Improve it = Remove encryption requirement thereby exposing personal data in a breach. Yeah, Apple isn't going to do that.

Nor do I want them to.

I'm not following. My computer is protected, and my drive is encrypted. But if my computer is unlocked, that does not stop someone from plugging in their device and restoring my backup. That only takes 2 minutes. There are hundreds of scenarios where your computer may not be locked and you step away for 2 minutes. If my iTunes backup in encrypted they could not do this. All it is is a second layer of security by needing an encrypted iTunes backup. I have no problem with this.

The point is that this workflow sucks. Why offer this distinction at all? An incomplete backup is no backup. It is also a set-and-forget type of backup that may have been set up once years ago and then forgot. The iTunes backup system is clunky. It relies on yet another password to remember (with an option to store it in the keychain), at the danger of not only losing access to your backup but also being forced to reset your device to start a new backup, meaning that you have to get your data off the device manually or with other tools. iCloud backups is a much easier solution in terms of setup and usage and iTunes should learn a few things from it.

 

[Mlrollin91]

That’s just an opportune excuse. This would have happened with any other version, developer or otherwise.



Nor do I want them to.



The point is that this workflow sucks. Why offer this distinction at all? An incomplete backup is no backup. It is also a set-and-forget type of backup that may have been set up once years ago and then forgot. The iTunes backup system is clunky. It relies on yet another password to remember (with an option to store it in the keychain), at the danger of not only losing access to your backup but also being forced to reset your device to start a new backup, meaning that you have to get your data off the device manually or with other tools. iCloud backups is a much easier solution in terms of setup and usage and iTunes should learn a few things from it.

I don't disagree. iTunes backup is a mess, but it is much more reliable than iCloud. I have had iCloud backups become corrupt all the time. iTunes is also much faster. I have a 300Mbps internet connection. iTunes backup takes 45 minutes for 60GB, while iCloud can take 4-5 hours.

iTunes backup definitely does need an overhaul and I think all iTunes backups should be required to be encrypted. Therefore, the OP would not be in this situation. Yes it's an extra password to remember (or you can store it locally) but it does offer more security.

I could go as far as suggesting it be tied to your Apple ID so it's one password, just like iCloud. You could then allow it to be part of 2FA for added security.

 

[GreyOS]

Remember: we are talking about someone restoring to an earlier version of iOS from a developer beta. Some level of knowledge is assumed if you are doing those things. If you do not have that level of knowledge or skill, it may reasonably be asked if you should be undertaking those activities. Use of betas inherently carries a degree of risk to it.

I do agree with you, though, that there could be less snarkiness.

Sorry, where are we talking about that? Just reading OP back and I can't see mention of beta. Sorry if being blind.