Apple added iCloud Data Recovery Service in iOS 15 / iPadOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey . They marked this an authoritative new feature film to help you in font you recede access to machine connected to your Apple ID account and did n’t desire to lose all your iCloud - synchronize data point and your Apple ID account access . Appoint trust contacts — friends , family , colleagues , a lawyer , whomever — and you could turn to them to activate a backup plan in the worst case .
However , the service had a significant limitation : it could only restore datum that was synced in such a way of life it was at once accessible from iCloud.com . you’re able to see how in Apple’siCloud data security overview . Only your iCloud stuff lean under “ received data protection ” with “ in transit & on waiter ” could be recovered through the help of a trusted striking . The repose was gadget - locked end - to - terminal encrypted data that could be unretrievable . ( If you recovered a trusted twist or unlocked one you thought was locked always , that gimmick would resync data to fresh hardware you added . )
Apple made this explicit when you set up the service : “ iCloud Data Recovery Service can help you get your information back , including photos , notes , reminders and gadget backups. … Apple can not get at or facilitate you recover your conclusion - to - end cypher data , such as Keychain , Screen Time and Health data . ”
I publish a column on the limits of iCloud Data Recovery Service and how to enable it back in October 2021 ; see “ How to employ iCloud Data Recovery Service . ”
Improvements and features
Apple has slipstreamed a hatful of improvements in the current operating system cycle , many related to iCloud . I ’ve discovered that includes iCloud Data Recovery Service , which has a new name and no longer has the iCloud - approachable data limit .
Apple now calls it Recovery Assistance , and your trusted contacts are now “ retrieval touch . ” Apple did n’t announce the change , but it occurred along with the dismissal of Advanced Data Protection for iCloud data . ADP allows virtually all iCloud - stored datum to be protected with end - to - last encryption , the gold standard . ( I figured out the modification come about between Dec. 11 and Dec. 13 , 2022 , by confab the Internet Archive ’s Wayback Machine for Apple ’s support page on history recovery . )
This makes sensation : if you enabled ADP , only electronic mail , contacts , and calendar entries could be recoverable . Hardly utilitarian . The afterthought affects both stock and ADP - configure iCloud accounts .
Recovery Assistance now tells you when you add a contact , “ Your recovery contact ca n’t access your data but can help you recuperate all of it and regain access to your score . ” Note the wordall !
Apple in all likelihood makes this materialise through the same method it uses with iCloud Keychain : it uses gadget passphrases to engage away encoding keys that provide access to iCloud Keychain data . Without possess a equipment passphrase , you ca n’t synchronise iCloud Keychain . Recovery Assistance makes usance of data point your recovery contact has mixed with information you possess and have access to .
The frame-up and use of Recovery Assistance are identical to the quondam edition . The main difference is version numbers :
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