How to easily enable Advanced Data Protection feature on your iPhone and iPad

iOS version 16.2 is one of the bigger updates that the iPhone and iPad have received in recent months. The latest patch looks to introduce a number of new features to the Apple ecosystem, with one of the biggest highlights being the online data protection feature.

Advanced Data Protection, as it’s officially called, encrypts 23 data types in iCloud end-to-end, which is a significant increase from the default 14.

iOS 16.2 is OUT NOW ‼️📲What’s new?🎤 Apple Music Sing (karaoke feature)✏️ New Freeform app☁️ Advanced data protection for iCloud📺 Always-on screen updates on iPhone 14 Pro🪲 Bug fixes and other improvements https://t.co/iT8h0N6Vyk

Enabling this option on your Apple devices makes it significantly more difficult for unauthorized personnel to view some of your personal data, such as photos, notes, and other device backups.

Although this is an optional feature, many Apple users have made the most of it by enabling protection on their devices. However, some users had a hard time setting it up and encountered some issues.

This guide is specifically about how you can easily enable the Advanced Data Protection feature on your iPhone and iPad.

Enable the Advanced Data Protection feature on your iPhone and iPad

As mentioned, with the latest Advanced Data Protection feature, iPhone and iPad users will be able to provide additional E3E encryption on all their private data. To activate it on your respective Apple devices, you will be required to:

• Go to the iCloud section of your Settings app. You can do this by clicking on your name which will be at the very top of the settings menu. Doing so will automatically take you to the iCloud section of your iOS or iPadOS.
• However, keep in mind that this feature will only work if your device has the software version of 16.2 or later. The Advanced Data Protection feature will not work on your iPhone if you have not updated it to the latest versions.
• In the iCloud menu, you will be required to scroll down and look for the option that says Advanced Data Protection. You can then tap on it which will allow you to activate the new protection feature.
• However, before you do that, make sure you first add a recovery contact or recovery key through the account recovery menu at the bottom. Once enabled, you will be able to disable the feature whenever you want.

It is important to note here that the feature does not encrypt all personal data. Apple has previously said that the feature will not encrypt iCloud Mail, Contacts and Calendar. This is because the software can only incorporate them in a way that takes into account respective global systems.

Set up account recovery method before enabling Advanced Data Protection on your iPhone

Before you enable the Advanced Data Protection feature, it is important that you set up an alternate account recovery method. That’s because if you’re locked out of your ID, even Apple won’t be able to recover your data once you’ve enabled Advanced Data Protection.

Hence, recovery contact(s) allow you to regain access to the ID. You can even opt for a recovery key as an alternative. However, if you lose the key, you will not be able to recover your iCloud data.