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Worth doing a fresh install?

SpitUK

SpitUK

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 5, 2010
898
828
East Yorkshire, UK
I get the new iPhone every year and I have always used iCloud restore since it was implemented. Feel like this year when I get my iPhone XS Max I want to do a fresh install so I can install the apps I want again etc. I want to do the same with my new Apple Watch as well and just start again. My notifications on Apple Watch are never reliable for iMessage.

Am I crazy or is this something you guys have done?

Think my Apple ID restores passwords and basics anyway?

I have a backup in case I miss anything.
 
Does your Apple ID bring the basics over?

Just feel like iOS 12 fixes lots of things that a fresh install feels the right way to go this time. My mate says I’m crazy.
 
I’ve always wanted to restore as new.. but it’s such a long process to get everything back right.. I always miss and app. Or want certain documents that were part of that app. Not to mention all the settings that I have saved.. it’s just a lot lol
 
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SpitUK said:
Does your Apple ID bring the basics over?

Just feel like iOS 12 fixes lots of things that a fresh install feels the right way to go this time. My mate says I’m crazy.
Click to expand...

Not really but some.

I don't think your crazy.
[doublepost=1536494046][/doublepost]
gigapocket1 said:
I’ve always wanted to restore as new.. but it’s such a long process to get everything back right.. I always miss and app. Or want certain documents that were part of that app. Not to mention all the settings that I have saved.. it’s just a lot lol
Click to expand...

Your right but that is the fun part!
 
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It's too much work to get everything back how it was. It's easier then days with iCloud saving so many things including iMessages but still.
 
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max2 said:
Not really but some.

I don't think your crazy.
[doublepost=1536494046][/doublepost]

Your right but that is the fun part!
Click to expand...

Lol it used to be fun. Lol. Now it’s just to time consuming lol.. they have made it easier now though.. I never wanted to lose any messages. I remember how I used to extract them out of backup. Place them in a empty backup and restore only messages to my iPhone.
But now. Everything is in the cloud. I feel like software is far better than the best. If I was worried about just funky stuff being porting over. I would just upgrade to iOS 12 thru iTunes. But other than that.. theirs just no way lol.
 
I just re-set up an iPhone X. All I had to do was put it next to my iPad and say yes. It was done in 10 minutes with everything- all apps, settings, just had to verify Apple Pay.

I’d erased it thinking I’d trade or offer to family member but ended up keeping. Erasing and turning off iCloud and signing out took about as long, but that was last week.

Use to be updates of apps over and over and being on beta was good idea once you got the final iOS release.
 
OP, I’d go through all the apps you use and see if you’d mind losing their data.

If you go to Settings app > your name at top > iCloud, check which apps sync to iCloud - these should sync on your fresh install after signing into iCloud, even when you don’t restore from backup. (Though bear in mind how those apps manage their iCloud sync is variable and may not be all your data)

IowaLynn said:
I just re-set up an iPhone X. All I had to do was put it next to my iPad and say yes. It was done in 10 minutes with everything- all apps, settings, just had to verify Apple Pay.
Click to expand...
that’s not the same as setting it up as new
 
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You won’t gain anything from a fresh install since the Backup only carries the Apps, Contacts, Messages and the main Data, not the firmware. It’s basically a fresh firmware phone with only your Data recently added but automatically instead of manually by you.
 
GreyOS said:
OP, I’d go through all the apps you use and see if you’d mind losing their data.

If you go to Settings app > your name at top > iCloud, check which apps sync to iCloud - these should sync on your fresh install after signing into iCloud, even when you don’t restore from backup. (Though bear in mind how those apps manage their iCloud sync is variable and may not be all your data)

that’s not the same as setting it up as new
Click to expand...
No it's not but the system and apps aren't fragmented or in patched state. Cache is wiped. Like an erase and CCC clone. But if it doesn't help. Then go to the longer effort. It worked better than in the past so maybe iOS 12 has improved doing a restore AND my iPad setup is trouble free and had identical setup as the phone did in past. I deleted the I loud backup as I planned to trade it.
 
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SpitUK said:
I get the new iPhone every year and I have always used iCloud restore since it was implemented. Feel like this year when I get my iPhone XS Max I want to do a fresh install so I can install the apps I want again etc.
Click to expand...

i do it quite often. most of the apps I use are tied to online accounts so there's no risk of data loss and the rest either sync'd to iCloud/Dropbox or I just don't care about the data. Restore and Clean install is a lot easier than manually deleting a bunch of stuff.
 
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I start from scratch every new iPhone and I have never really had any software problems. It could just be by chance, but I stick with it. Everything but apps loads up fine so it's really no big deal. I like to do an app purge every year too and just keep the ones I use most.
 
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I’m going to do the same thanks to everyone in this thread. My contacts and email are on office 365 and photos are backed up to OneDrive
 
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It all depends on how much stuff you have installed, and whether you want to spend the next few weeks going "Oh **** I have to reinstall (app) to do (thing) and I'm out and about and coverage sucks here!"

If you're going to be traveling, HELL no.
 
Indeed, don't know why some people wants to waste their time to reset every year. smartphone is not a pc with old HDD who are fragmented overtime and actually need to be formatted over time.
 
SoYoung said:
Indeed, don't know why some people wants to waste their time to reset every year. smartphone is not a pc with old HDD who are fragmented overtime and actually need to be formatted over time.
Click to expand...
If that were the only reason to reset every year, I wouldn’t do it.

Also, resetting was way different on old PCs. It took a lot more work and planning to get back up to speed. It takes me less than a half hour each year to reset using cloud services. This ensures I have a fully oiled engine and will encounter less problems than the average iPhone update user. It’s worth the minuscule time investment.
 
I'm always tempted to do a fresh install but never do, it's worse since apple watch was introduced as the only way to import/keep historic health data is to do an encrypted backup and load that via iTunes to a new device ... or am I wrong in believing that?
 
MadAngelUK said:
I'm always tempted to do a fresh install but never do, it's worse since apple watch was introduced as the only way to import/keep historic health data is to do an encrypted backup and load that via iTunes to a new device ... or am I wrong in believing that?
Click to expand...
I don’t use it so not certain, but Health is listed in settings > your name > iCloud so if that’s enabled I imagine it syncs to a device without a backup.
 
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