Question about restoring from an iCloud backup and keeping certain apps gone inaccessible intact in their accessible prior versions

By Moopie Curran, 28 March, 2022

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi,
My old iPhone 7, which I used for games when I got my 8 is in the process of going kaput I think. That's a big deal, because I have bitlife, still in it's accessible state version 1.51 I think. When I get my new iPhone, (I have more money than sense, I know, I'm getting an iPhone to use for gaming), will I be able to restore from the backup and keep bitlife intact in it's accessible state? Or will it update when I restore from iCloud?
Thanks

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Comments

By Tyler on Monday, March 28, 2022 - 02:47

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

I believe when restoring from an iCloud backup, the latest versions of apps are downloaded from the App Store after your personal data has been restored from the backup.

By Pilgrim Pete on Monday, March 28, 2022 - 07:10

The current version of an app will be downloaded when you restore from an iCloud backup. In the past, it would restore the same version that was installed when you made the backup, but this is no longer the case. Regardless, this would only happen if the older version was still available for download. I believe the only exceptions now are where you have an OS/hardware that doesn't support the latest version of an app. In these cases the last compatible version of an app will be downloaded if the developer has left it available for download.

Previously, restoring from an iTunes backup (made locally to your Mac or PC) would restore directly from the backup file itself, so would be whatever app version it contained. This changed about 3 years ago, and now behaves the same as an iCloud backup.

There are 3rd party applications for Mac and PC which enable you to backup and restore apps, but I have no experience of these.

The following site lists some, but bear in mind that they likely earn affiliate referral commission, so the list may not be complete or impartial. Of course, there's also the matter of just how nicely these applications will play with a screen reader.

https://geekflare.com/iphone-ipad-backup/

By Moopie Curran on Monday, March 28, 2022 - 20:21

Hi,
I have a guinea pig iPhone lying around (albeit a little worse for the wear), so I did a test erase and restore. I restored from the iCloud backup of my gaming phone, and sure enough, bitlife is still in it's wonderfully accessible version, so it did not update to the useless inaccessible version. So here's hoping when I get my gaming phone (not using it as a phone though), Wednesday or Thursday probably, that this will still hold true. I just wanted to come in here and update you guys about the situation.

By Jeff on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 - 03:25

I just received my new iPhone SE 3rd Gen and transferred my settings, apps and data by setting my old iPhone 8 next to my new iPhone SE and transferring that way. I had the old Money Reader on my iPhone 8, but it didn't transfer. Instead, when I double-tap the app icon, I get a message that the app is no longer available in the App Store. There's only an OK button -- no way to restore it from any backup.

It did transfer all of my data, including the audiobooks I have in Voice Dream Reader and my podcasts in Downcast. I was and am very happy about that! The process of upgrading was amazingly easy and I'm very happy with my new iPhone SE.

By Jeff on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 - 01:17

I didn't expect the money reader app to transfer because I knew it was gone from the app store, but I appreciate the clarification of what will and what will not restore.