Switching phones

Get your places, circles and conversations back on a new device without losing anything.

Before you start

Keep the old phone on and within reach: it is the one that will send a fresh backup to the new one.
With the backup in your cloud, sign the new phone into the same Google Drive or iCloud account as the old one, that is where the backup lives.
With the Fenzly backup, keep your recovery code at hand.

On the new phone

Install Fenzly and sign in with the same number or email.
Fenzly recognises your account and opens “Restore your data”. Choose From another phone.
The next screen asks you to open Fenzly on the old phone, and waits for a fresh backup.

On the old phone

Open Fenzly. It detects that a new device is setting up your account and asks: “Back up and transfer your data?”
Tap Confirm. The backup goes out; the progress shows the upload.
“Backup sent” appears: finish on your new phone. The old phone stays active until the end of the operation: do not uninstall it yet.

If someone else started this migration without you knowing, this is the moment to tap Refuse: nothing is sent without your confirmation.

If the question does not show up, Settings → Backup → Back up now on the old phone does the same: the new phone picks up that backup.

Back on the new phone

Fenzly reports “Backup just received” and offers to restore it. Tap Restore.
Your places, circles and conversations come back, with a near-zero gap from the old phone.
Grant the permissions again: they do not carry over from one phone to another.

The old phone is then signed out and shows “Migration complete”. You can uninstall the app.

If you no longer have the old phone

On “Restore your data”, choose From iCloud on iPhone or From Google Drive on Android. Fenzly shows the latest existing backup and its date, so you know what is missing: messages received after that date cannot be recovered. A Fenzly backup also asks for your recovery code, filled in by itself if you kept a copy in your cloud. Tap Restore this backup.

If you chose From another phone and the old phone never answers, “Having trouble?” appears after a minute and offers Restore the latest existing backup.

With no backup at all, your places and conversations are lost but your account still exists: choose I don’t have a backup, read what will not come back, then tap Start from scratch. Ask your people for a new code to join their circles again.