FoneTool Help Documents

Q: When transfer photos to computer, get the error: Only thumbnails were transferred. The original images may be stored in iCloud. AssetTransmitterError: 0x0000001d.

A: This happens because the photos that failed to transfer are stored in iCloud, while your iPhone only keeps thumbnails (preview images) locally. Since FoneTool cannot access the original photos stored in iCloud, it can only transfer the thumbnail versions to your computer.

To transfer the original photos, please make sure the full-resolution versions are downloaded to your iPhone first. You can do this by going to: Settings → Photos → enable Download and Keep Originals.

Q: When backup/transfer Photos, get the error: The file was not found on the device. AssetTransmitterError: 0x0000001c

A: This error occurs because the photos that failed to back up or transfer are stored in iCloud, and FoneTool cannot access files that are not physically stored on the device. As a result, FoneTool can’t back up or transfer these photos.

To back up or transfer the original photos, please make sure the full-resolution versions are downloaded to your iPhone first. You can do this by going to: Settings →Photos →enable Download and Keep Originals.

Q: Why can't I view Live Photos after backing up and restoring them?

A: A Live Photo actually consists of two parts — a still photo and a short video clip.

FoneTool can back up both the photo and video components of a Live Photo, but during restoration, it currently only supports restoring the photo file.

Therefore, after restoring, you will see the photo portion only, without the Live Photo motion effect.

Q: Why can't I delete some photos directly from iPhone?

A: Normally, photos taken with your iPhone/iPad/iPod are saved to the Camera Roll in the Photos app and can be deleted directly on the device. However, photos that were synced from a computer using iTunes or other third-party tools (such as FoneTool) are stored in the Photo Library, and these photos cannot be deleted directly from the iPhone.

To delete photos from the Photo Library, you can sync an empty folder from your computer to your device via iTunes. This will overwrite the existing Photo Library with the empty folder, effectively removing all the synced photos from your iPhone. For more details, please refer to here.

Q: Why do I get "AMdeviceSecureStartService failed"error?

A: During the backup/restore/browse operation of the device, if the current operation is interrupted abnormally for many times and FoneTool has not yet closed the connection with the device, you may encounter the "AMdeviceSecureStartService failed" error when a new operation is performed. To solve the problem, please try restarting FoneTool or the device, and then operate again.

Q: Why Movies and TV shows cannot be played after restore?

A: If you backed up movies or TV shows from iTunes Store and find it cannot play anymore, please check the following items: 1. Make sure the Apple ID you are using has purchased the Movies or TV Shows. 2. On your iOS device, go to Settings → iTunes & App Store, and sign in with the same Apple ID that was used for the purchase.. 3. Restore or re-download the Movies and TV Shows from the iTunes Store to your device. Once downloaded again, they should play normally.

Q: Why photos/videos restored on devices below iOS 11 cannot be displayed normally?

A: Starting with iOS 11, Apple introduced two new media formats — HEVC for videos and HEIF for photos.

HEVC (H.265) replaces the older H.264 video format.

HEIF replaces the traditional JPEG format for images.

Devices running below iOS 11 do not support these new formats, so photos and videos saved in HEVC or HEIF cannot be displayed properly on them.

Q: Does FoneTool support backing up attachments in SMS?

A: The current version does not support backup or restore of photos, videos, animoji and other attachments in SMS.

Q: Why music and videos cannot be played after restore?

A: If you backed up music or videos from iTunes Store and find it cannot play anymore, please check the following items: 1. Make sure your Apple ID has an active Apple Music or iTunes media purchase. 2. On your device, go to Settings > iTunes & App Store, and sign in with the same Apple ID used for the purchase. 3. Re-download or restore the music and music videos from the iTunes Store to your device — they should then play normally.

Q: Why can't I restore some videos to other devices?

A: With the improvement of iPhone hardware, video resolution has increased up to 4K and beyond.

If you try to restore a high-resolution video to an older iPhone model — for example, restoring a 4K video recorded on iPhone 11 to an iPhone 6 — the video may fail to restore successfully or cannot be played on the target device due to hardware and format incompatibility.

Q: Does the old version of FoneTool compatible with backups of the new?

A: The old version FoneTool can't operation backups created by the new version, such as importing and restoring the backup created by the new version of FoneTool.