>why when I do an iCloud restore on a brand new device, all existing messages are recovered Because they're stored locally on your phone, and then encrypted as

>why when I do an iCloud restore on a brand new device, all existing messages are recovered Because they're stored locally on your phone, and then encrypted as a backup file. The statement is saying that the messages aren't sent in the open, so no one (including Apple) can eavesdrop. Of course you can get them from your backup, if you have access to a password, you can always access encrypted data with it.