icloud, im pretty clueless, please help!

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l have two iphones, a 5s and 6 each has different apps under the same icloud storage
The icloud is the 5GB version, and is well maxed out, nonetheless, l now upgraded to a 6s+, and have signed into my icloud but why arent the same settings and apps there? l do see photos and contacts are there, but most photos have to be downloaded. how about the apps? not one is there, is this because the photos / videos have taken up the 5GB? will upgrading to 50GB version or higher mean l will get the apps that are in my 5s and 6 onto my 'new' 6s+ ? l also subscribed to different podcasts in the brilliant podcast app in 5s and 6, but none are there in my 'new' 6s+, will l get both the 5s and 6 podcasts subscriptions if upgrade to 50GB icloud?
all iphones are 64GB storage. could l then immediately cancel the icloud upgrade after getting the podcasts, apps and photos in the old 5s and 6 into my new iphone 6s+?
thanks for making it clearer.
 

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The way to get everything from one iPhone to another is to do a backup, either to iCloud or iTunes. The free 5GB iCloud isn't enough if you have filed up a 64GB device. So you'll likely want to do the iTunes backup of your device. Then with your 6s+, choose to do a restore from iTunes.

This will now restore everything from your current device onto the new device.
 
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I think you are mixing up iCloud and AppleID. Do these two phones have the same AppleID? What do you mean by
each has different apps under the same icloud storage

iCloud is storage in the "cloud" or storage you have purchased at an Apple site where you can store files of all sorts. It's similar to other cloud storage providers, including Dropbox. Your AppleID account ties the various devices together, but if you have different AppleID accounts, the files won't sync across the boundary.
 
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I think you are mixing up iCloud and AppleID. Do these two phones have the same AppleID? What do you mean by

iCloud is storage in the "cloud" or storage you have purchased at an Apple site where you can store files of all sorts. It's similar to other cloud storage providers, including Dropbox. Your AppleID account ties the various devices together, but if you have different AppleID accounts, the files won't sync across the boundary.
Yes, iphone 5s and 6 use the same AppleID and the 5GB icloud which both share. just checked 'Photos' takes up 20GB on 5s, 5.15GB on 6 but only 132MB on new 6s+.(understand discrepancy now, it grows as it downloads from icloud. important question- would it work the same ''seamless'' way if used dropbox or google drive?) all 3 phones are logged onto same AppleID and icloud. shouldn't they all have 5GB worth of photos? the new 6s+also doesnt have any of the downloaded apps in the 5s and 6 either, eg HSBC, citibank banking apps, whatsapp, facebook, etc but just the standard apps you get on a new phone. so having a bigger icloud would mean l would get the same apps on both the 5s and 6, onto my new6s+?

if get itunes to back up, l can use my external drive to back up? and get the apps on both the phones onto new6s+?
l want the new6s+ to have the same contacts and chat history in whatsapp and wechat. l know it can be done, but how? perhaps lm overcomplicating things, but cloud storage can be dropbox, google drive and icloud. according to Google Drive vs. Apple iCloud vs. Dropbox — and the winner is clear - Business Insider , google drive is best. but will it do the things as 'seamlessly' as icloud or what l require as above? please comment
 
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The pictures should eventually all be in sync, if in Settings, Photos you have iCloud Photos turned on on all of them. It takes time, as Photos works with very low priority in the background to download the pictures. Also, if you want the full images on each device, not just thumbnails, select "Download and keep originals" in the same place. If you are willing to use cellular to download and sync, make sure that is turned on as well. But you might want to be careful if you have data limits.

As for applications, they do not sync. You would have to install them on each device on which you want them. If you want all apps on all devices, I think that can be accomplished through Settings/App Store and turn ON App Updates on all devices. Now when there is an update to an app, it should download to all devices. Again, be careful about cellular data settings on that, as some apps are pretty large. I'm not certain that already existing apps will automatically install with that setting, so you may have to install each one separately on each device.

Can't help with chats or the like. Sorry.

I don't trust Google with anything, so I cannot comment on Google. Dropbox might work, but I find iCloud much easier once it is set up properly.
 

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l want the new6s+ to have the same contacts and chat history in whatsapp and wechat.

You can; but not via iCloud. They have nothing to do with Apple or iCloud.

WhatsApp has its own sync system across devices and is instigated via the app itself.

As an additional BTW, you might like to consider upgrading your iCloud storage. All prices/month:

5GB storage: Free.
50GB storage: £0.79/$0.99.
200GB storage: £2.49/$2.99.
2TB storage: £6.99/$9.99.

And in Hong Kong:

Hong Kong (HKD)
50GB: HK$ 8
200GB: HK$ 23
2TB: HK$ 78

As you can see, going up to 50GB is pennies in anybody's money; and 200GB is not far off the equivalent of one good cup of coffee per month.

Just a thought.

Ian
 
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why hasnt anyone suggested wifi transfer?? YouTube surely this works? l assume l have to start anew with the new iphone 6s+ and choose either to use my iphone 5s or 6 to copy? both are on 13.3.1 or above?
btw where is itunes back up now? the 'music' icon looks identical to old itunes one, but itunes is no longer there.
 
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Probably because your original post implied that you wanted to sync the two iPhones, both of which had some apps already installed, not just transfer everything from the old to a new iPhone with nothing on it. The video is how to transfer from an old phone to a brand new one. Note the the new phone in the video is at factory start up, with the "Hello" screen showing before he starts the transfer. I don't think that method can be used if the new phone has been set up at all.
 

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Hi Appelet,

Unless the specs mentioned under your avatar or not up to date, your Mac runs macOS Sierra? If so, then iTunes is most definitely still there:)

After Sierra, came High Sierra then Mojave - all have iTunes. It was only with macOS Catalina, that Music replaced iTunes and syncing iDevices is done via Finder; where the iDevice is shown in the Sidebar.

See here: Use the Finder to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with your computer - Apple Support

Ian
 
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Probably because your original post implied that you wanted to sync the two iPhones, both of which had some apps already installed, not just transfer everything from the old to a new iPhone with nothing on it. The video is how to transfer from an old phone to a brand new one. Note the the new phone in the video is at factory start up, with the "Hello" screen showing before he starts the transfer. I don't think that method can be used if the new phone has been set up at all.
sorry, l want to transfer what is on either the 5s or 6 onto my 'new' 6s+ so is this wifi transfer easiest way, meaning no need to upgrade my icloud. l want he same chat messages in my wechat and whats app.
IWT- yes it is catalina 10.15.3 my old but running fine 2012 mbpr is on. using music to back up the iphone can be done using an external hd right?. my poor mbpr has ~30GB of free space.
 

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I think there is still some confusion here. The app store is where all of you app purchases are recorded (not stored) and that is where you can download them from again. iCloud is where the things that you nominate in iCloud preferences on your Mac and portable devices are stored and synced between devices. If you wish to see what is stored in your iCloud account go to iCloud and sign in with your Apple ID.

To put what is on one iPhone onto another is simply a process of restoring a backup of one to another using iTunes or Music or in the case of Catalina the Finder depending on which macOS you are running.
You will then have the same content (apps, contacts, music etc).

For example, I had a 5s and purchased a 7 so I setup the 7 as a new iPhone giving it a new name on iTunes, did a backup of my 5s then connected the 7 and did a restore of the 5s backup to the 7. I then had two duplicate iPhones with the same content but different names. I swapped the SIM card to the 7 and used the 5s for playing music via Bluetooth and games until it died.

You cannot use Music to backup or sync your iPhone in Catalina. You cannot backup your iPhone to an external HD either as far as I can see.

As for your iCloud storage plan I suggest you go to iCloud preferences in the System prefs under the Apple Menu and click on your Apple ID at the top of the window. Here you will see what is storing data in iCloud. You also get the option to "Manage" your storage and update your plan.

The sad news is that 5Gb is simply not enough these days but 50Gb is, as mentioned by Ian, cheap and adequate for most peoples needs.

I would also suggest (although I don't know what amount of storage you have on your computer eg 500Gb) that 30Gb free is not enough. Some would say more but 10% minimum free space is strongly advised for effective operation of a mac computer. So if you have 500Gb storage, 50Gb+ free is essential.
 
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You can use the video procedure with modern versions of iOS from one phone to the new one, but not from both. Once it is past the setup stage, that process is not available. But using that process, as the video says, results in having to download all the apps again from the app store as it does not actually transfer the app, just the fact that it is on the old device. Once the process is done between the two, the new phone continues with the process by downloading all of the apps from the app store, images from iCloud, etc. But again, only between two, leaving out the third.

That said, you could use the videoed process for one device, then manually install anything on the second device that is not on the first. As for the history of chat messages, you will have to look to the developers for how to do that, if it's possible.
 
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update, l purchased the 50GB icloud, in hope of getting same set up as have in 5s. did icloud back up of the old iphone 5s went through the 'magical' device device transfer to the iphone 6+s, then on 'Apps & Data' page l chose 'Restore from icloud Backup' however cant choose the iphone backup because iphone 6+s said 'iOS 13.3 Required'. so l tried updating the iphone 6+s but it says it is up to date, although it is on 'iOS 12.4.5 Your software is up to date' the 'Automatic updates' is on as well, and it won't go any newer than 12.4.5. again reminders, l have 100s, and not one is there
l think the total capacity of iphone5s is 64GB, and only 1GB is free, however icloud uses up only 13GB of 50GB? this is despite doing an' iCloud back up now' thought the 50GB icloud would be full again, got 'notes' many of the photos, but very important, my reminders are not showing, sorry for this confusion, anyone have an idea?
 
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An iCloud backup does not back up the applications, as you can reinstall them from the Apple store. And that is how it is done. On restore, your data is reinstalled, then all of your apps download again from the store and are installed. So the amount in your backup is going to be less than is on the iPhone. Plus, there is no backup of iOS, as it has to be on the iPhone for it to work at all. So, the only thing on the iCloud backup is YOUR data.
 
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thanks, l have to get that drilled into my head, that using the same icloud on new phone doesnt give you the apps on the old icloud account except the data in those apps. its just that l had 2 iphones, on same icloud, and when one downloaded an app, the other got it later in the day, unless its just my memory problems and l had downloaded onto each iphone. please comment
what about part where the iphone 6+s wont update?? 'did icloud back up of the old iphone 5s went through the 'magical' device device transfer to the iphone 6+s, then on 'Apps & Data' page l chose 'Restore from icloud Backup' however cant choose the iphone backup because iphone 6+s said 'iOS 13.3 Required'. so l tried updating the iphone 6+s but it says it is up to date, although it is on 'iOS 12.4.5 Your software is up to date' the 'Automatic updates' is on as well, and it won't go any newer than 12.4.5. '
yes, my 'reminders' ,iphones native app, are not showing up any of those set in my iphone5s, why? l reckon 'Restore from icloud Backup' would resolve, but cant as above.
 
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To upgrade iOS, you tap on Settings, General, then Software Update and the system will check to see if there is a update/upgrade waiting. Is that how you are doing the upgrade that isn't working?
 

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