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Moving to a new iPhone with photos in Vely

Prepare a completed Vely backup on your old iPhone, then follow the recovery phrase, backup selection, and new-pattern steps on your new iPhone.

By Vely teamPublished 3 min read
  • New iPhone
  • Photos and videos
  • Restoring

Work through the preparation on your old iPhone before erasing it or deleting Vely. This checklist describes the current app; Vely is coming soon to the App Store.

Prepare on the old iPhone

Open Settings > iCloud Backup in Vely. If you have not enabled backup, use the backup guide first. After your last photo or video import, tap Back Up Now, review the status, and check Last backup for the completed backup's date and time.

Have the recovery phrase for that backup and the Apple Account you used for iCloud ready. If Settings shows Recovery phrase not yet updated, read the phrase-change instructions before continuing.

The approved explanation states:

To restore on a new iPhone, you need the same Apple Account and your recovery phrase, and then you draw a new pattern.

Understand what the phrase and Face ID can do

Keep these limits in mind before putting the old phone away:

Your recovery phrase restores access to encrypted data that still exists. It does not back up your files.

Face ID can't restore a backup on another iPhone.

If no backup has completed, the approved loss warning is:

Your vault will be gone. Your recovery phrase can't bring back files that no longer exist. Turn on iCloud backup to protect against this.

Restore on the new iPhone

  1. Sign in to iCloud on the new iPhone with the same Apple Account you used for the backup.
  2. Install and open Vely. On the welcome screen, choose Restore from iCloud Backup before creating a new vault.
  3. Wait for Vely to find backups in the account. Enter the recovery phrase for the vault you backed up, then tap Continue.
  4. On Choose a backup, review the available backup dates, item counts, and sizes. Select the backup you want, then tap Restore This Backup.
  5. Follow the prompts to draw and confirm a new pattern, then let the restore finish.

The phrase-entry screen says:

Enter the recovery phrase for the vault you backed up. Your phrase never leaves this iPhone.

Restoring a backup of more than 100 items needs Vely Pro. If prompted, address that before continuing with the selected backup. Also follow any request to free space on the new iPhone.

If the expected backup is missing

Recheck which Apple Account is signed in to iCloud. If Vely cannot reach iCloud, check your connection and try again. If a recovery phrase does not open the expected backup, check the words, their order, and whether you changed the phrase on the old iPhone.

If Vely reports that the backup was made by a newer version, update Vely and try again. Avoid resetting a working vault to troubleshoot a restore; the app explains:

A vault on this iPhone can be opened, so a backup can't be restored over it.

Use Support for the existing recovery answers and How your data is protected for the full recovery limits.

Check the result before retiring the old phone

Open the restored albums, view a few photos, and play a video. Review the backup date you selected against your last imports on the old iPhone.

An album open in Vely, with Photos and Videos filters and six sample items to browse.
Use the album view to review your photos and videos. Shown with fictional sample content.

It is a backup, not sync: changes you make after a backup aren't in it until the next one.

After the restore, review the Keep Backing Up or Turn Off choice. Check Settings > iCloud Backup on the new phone before treating your move as finished. Keep the old phone available until you have reviewed the result.

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