Moving to a new iPhone or iPad does not affect the photos already on your Picture Keeper — they stay exactly where they are. What changes is what the app on the new phone knows, and that is worth understanding before the first backup runs.
Before you switch
While you still have the old iPhone, run one more backup and let it finish. How do I know if all my files were backed up? shows what a finished backup looks like. If you want your contacts on the drive as well, make sure Contacts is switched on before you start — only what is backed up can be restored later.
Two things to expect at this stage. An old iPhone with no cell service still backs up perfectly well over Wi-Fi. And photos kept only in iCloud have to download to the phone before they can be copied, which also needs Wi-Fi and can take a while.
When it has finished, eject the drive before unplugging it.
Two buttons to leave alone around a switch
- Remove Files from iPhone or iPad — this deletes the photos from the phone after they are safely on the drive. If iCloud Photos is switched on, those deletions travel through iCloud and reach the new iPhone too.
- Erase All Files — this erases the drive's backup folder for that phone. A new iPhone given the same name shares that folder, so this can clear the new phone's backup as well as the old one's.
Setting up the app on the new iPhone
Install the app, then sign in with the same account you used before rather than creating a new one — Which email address is my account under? can help if you are not sure which that was. Choose your product when asked.
When the first backup starts, the app asks for access to your photos and, if you want them, your contacts. Allow full access to the photo library rather than selecting individual photos, or the backup will only ever see the few you picked.
If your drive connects over USB-C, you also have to tap Grant Access to Drive and choose the drive in the Drive Picker. Access is granted for one phone and one drive together, so a second drive on the same phone has to be granted as well. This is the step that catches people out, because on a Lightning iPhone the drive simply appeared. There are screenshots in App Setup for iPhone or iPad, and Got a new phone? covers which drives fit which port.
An iPhone set up from an iCloud backup, or with Quick Start, brings your settings across, so the app usually opens already signed in. Occasionally it asks you to sign in again — either way, check it is the same account as before. Drive access always has to be granted again.
What the first backup does
The drive keeps each iPhone's backups in a folder named after the phone — the name under Settings › General › About › Name. An iPhone restored from an iCloud backup normally keeps the old phone's name, which simply means its photos carry on in the same folder as before. What decides how much that first backup copies, though, is not the name but whether the app's record of what it has already backed up came across with the phone. The name only decides which folder the photos go into.
If you set the new iPhone up from the old one, with Quick Start or from an iCloud backup, the app's record of what it has already backed up comes across with everything else. Because it has that record, a transferred iPhone usually copies far fewer photos than a fresh install would — often less than half its library. It is not guaranteed: some phones still re-copy most of their photos, so keep an eye on the count during that first backup and make sure the drive has room in case it copies more than you expected. Photo matching improved in app version 5.1.48, so it is worth updating the app before that first backup. Videos often copy again on the current version, and contacts are likely to as well.
If you installed the app fresh, it has no record at all and the first backup copies everything again. Where it puts those files depends on the name: a new iPhone with the same name writes into the old phone's folder, where a file of the same name is written over rather than doubled; a new iPhone with a different name gets a folder of its own, which means a second full copy of your library, so check the drive has room for it. Most iPhones set up as new are given a different name, so that second folder is the more common outcome.
That "written over" only holds while the file names match. A file's name on the drive is the photo's capture date and time plus its original name, so anything that changes the name adds a second copy instead — a different time zone, for example, or HEIC to JPG conversion, which is on by default after a fresh install and may have been off on the old phone.
A first backup that has to copy everything again takes as long as your original one did. Start Backup or Resume Backup: what's the difference? explains what the button is telling you, and Does a second Picture Keeper start where the first one stopped? covers the same ground for a new drive.
If the backup ends early
A brand-new iPhone is usually still pulling your library down from iCloud, and the app can only copy what is actually on the phone — so the first backups often stop short and report that the backup is incomplete. Let Photos finish downloading, keep the phone on Wi-Fi and on charge, and run the backup again. Troubleshooting an Incomplete Backup has more.
There is one case worth setting up in advance: a new or newly erased drive, used with an iPhone that was set up from your old one. Because the app believes those photos are already backed up, they never reach the new drive — and the app can still finish and say the backup is complete. Turn on Clone Your Next Backup before that first backup to copy everything across.
Getting your photos and contacts onto the new iPhone
Open Settings, then Restore Files. The list holds every device that has backed up to this drive, so your old iPhone is there — and so is any Android phone you have backed up. Choose the whole device, or open it and pick what you want.
Restored photos and videos go into your Photos library with their original dates, rather than into an album of their own, and contacts are added to Contacts. Nothing checks for duplicates, so skip anything iCloud has already brought back or you will end up with two of each. Documents cannot be restored this way. Contacts have a guide of their own: Restore Contacts from Your Drive. Copy Files from Picture Keeper to iPhone or iPad has the full steps.
Coming from an Android phone
Restore Files reaches an Android phone's folder in exactly the same way — it is named after the phone's model rather than a name you chose — and contacts come across as well. The drive plugs into the new iPhone's USB-C port.
KeepSafe
KeepSafe follows your account, so signing in with the same email address is all it usually takes. If your subscription does not appear, use Restore Purchases; billing stays with Apple either way. KeepSafe Overview covers the rest.
One ordering detail: restore your contacts before KeepSafe runs for the first time on the new iPhone. Each upload replaces KeepSafe's copy of your contacts with whatever is on the phone at the time.
If you need any additional assistance, please contact Picture Keeper support.