If you’re enrolled in Apple’s Public Beta Program, transferring data from your old iPhone to a new one isn’t quite so simple. Any iTunes or iCloud backup made from your current iPhone running the iOS 9 public beta is not compatible with the shipping version of iOS 9 running on your new iPhone. The only way to unenroll from the beta program is to restore your iPhone with the iOS 8 backup you made before signing up. However, if like me you've acquired a lot of data since then; restoring to the old back up could be a deal breaker. Here's how to easily transfer your data from an old iPhone currently enrolled in the Apple Beta Software Program to your new iPhone.
1. Back up your old iPhone on iTunes
Back up your old iPhone to your computer via iTunes. Here's our tip on how to do that. (*note: an iCloud backup won’t work because restoration requires the phone be restored to factory settings.)
2. Set up your new iPhone as New
When you power up your new iPhone, set it up as new. Attempting to restore the phone from iTunes or iCloud backup at this stage will not work.
3. Enroll your new iPhone in the iOS beta program
In order for the backup you made to be compatible with your new iPhone, you need to enroll your new phone in the Apple Beta Program too. Once your new phone is set up as a new iPhone, go to beta.Apple.com,sign in and enroll your new iPhone. Then open your new iPhone's Settings, go to General, and select Software Update. Download the most recent version of iOS 9 beta.
4. Connect your new iPhone to iTunes and Restore
The first time you plug a new phone into iTunes on your computer, you'll be asked if you want to restore your iPhone from a backup or start as new. Choose the most recent backup you made and restore it to your new iPhone. Now that both your old phone and new phone are running the beta version of iOS 9, the data transfer should be seamless.
As far as I've been able to discover, either unenrolling and reverting to an old backup or continuing to participate in Apple's beta program and keeping your most recent data are the only two options for beta participants. I hope this saves confusion for any beta testers out there! It sure gave me a headache last weekend.
Top Image Credit: Attila Fodemesi / Shutterstock.com
