What you need to know about backing up your Apple Watch

What you need to know about backing up your Apple Watch

<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><a href='http://www.imore.com/what-you-need-know-about-backing-your-apple-watch' title="What you need to know about backing up your Apple Watch"><img src='http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/large_wm_brw/public/field/image/2015/05/apple-watch-backup-iphone-6-hero.jpg?itok=QV74LSbz' />[/url]</p> <p class="intro">Here's what data your iPhone can back up from your Apple Watch — and what it can't.</p> <p>There's been some confusion around what, exactly, your iPhone is saving from your Apple Watch — and how often it does so. Thankfully, Apple put out a helpful support document on Tuesday outlining this information, as well as how to restore your iPhone from a backup.</p>  <h2>How often does my iPhone back up my Apple Watch?</h2> <p>According to Apple, it's an automatic process, so we imagine it's similar to services like iCloud Photo Library and the like — anytime your devices are within range, it will feed a steady stream of data between the two. In theory, the Watch should use a Bluetooth handshake to send this information to your iPhone, dropping to Wi-Fi if it can't achieve a strong BT connection, but we're checking our sources to confirm.</p> <h2>Does the backup live on my iPhone? What happens if I lose it?</h2> <p>Your Watch backup does live on your iPhone, but if you back up your device to iCloud or iTunes, your Watch information will be stored alongside your iPhone backup. So as long as you regularly back up your iPhone, your Watch backup should be a-okay, as well.</p> <h2>Can I send my Watch backup to another iPhone?</h2> <p>Not unless that new iPhone is being restored from your old iPhone's backup; otherwise, you'll have to set up your Watch as a new device with the new iPhone.</p> <h2>What will my iPhone back up?</h2> <p>According to Apple, this is the information your iPhone is regularly saving:</p>

<ul><li>General system settings, such as your watch face, known Wi-Fi networks, brightness, sound, and haptic settings</li> <li>Language</li> <li>Time Zone</li> <li>Settings for Mail, Calendar, Stocks, and Weather</li> <li>App-specific data and settings, such as Maps, distance, and units</li> <li>Health and Fitness data, such as history, achievements, and user-entered data (To back up Health and Fitness data, you need to use iCloud or an encrypted iTunes backup.)</li> </ul>

<h2>What won't my iPhone back up?</h2> <p>In general, the Apple Watch won't back up anything to your iPhone that's data-intensive or security-focused. Specifically, here's what Apple lists:</p>

<ul><li>Workout and Activity calibration data from your Apple Watch</li> <li>Playlists synced to your Apple Watch</li> <li>Credit or debit cards used for Apple Pay on your Apple Watch</li> <li>Passcode for your Apple Watch</li> </ul>

<p>As such, if you want to unpair and re-pair your Apple Watch, you'll have to re-calibrate your Watch's activity data, put your local music back on the device, and set up your Apple Pay cards and passcode once more.</p> <h2>I'm afraid my Apple Watch hasn't backed up and I need to unpair it. What do I do?</h2> <p>Don't panic: When you unpair your Watch from your iPhone, as long as your iPhone is in range, it will make a backup.</p> <h2>Other questions?</h2> <p>Still curious about Apple Watch and backups? Ping us below if you have any other questions and we'll try to answer them.</p> </div></div></div><img width='1' height='1' src='