What To Do When You Get a New Device

When switching to a new device, many people’s top priority is to set up accountability software to monitor the device. We think that’s great, and we’ve made the process super easy! This guide walks you through everything you need to do when switching to a new device, including a few extra steps for iOS users who use Apple's built-in phone transfer process.

With Personal and Family plans, you can monitor multiple devices at no additional cost! Personal plans can monitor up to 6 devices, and Family plans can monitor up to 20 devices.

Step 1: Remove Accountable2You from Your Old Device

Before you set anything up on your new phone, take care of the old one:

  • If you still have access to your old device: Uninstall the Accountable2You app from it.
  • If you no longer have the old device (lost, sold, traded in, etc.), remove it from your Accountable2You account instead, since you won't be able to uninstall the app directly.

Step 2: Install Accountable2You on Your New Device

Download and install the Accountable2You monitoring app on your new phone just as you did the first time, then sign in to your existing account.

Step 3: Confirm Your Partners Have Access

Once your new device is set up, double-check that your accountability partners have permission to view activity records for it. This step is easy to overlook, but it's important — without it, your partners may not receive reports from your new device.

👉 Follow these steps to update an existing partner's permissions

A Note for iOS Users: Apple's Device Transfer Process

If you used Apple's default transfer process (such as an iCloud backup) to move your apps and data to your new iPhone, there's something important to know.

When you use Apple's standard transfer process, the Accountable2You app transfers over to your new phone — but the Accountable2You certificate does not. Without that certificate, the monitoring won’t work, and you may run into internet connection issues.

The good news: this is usually simple to fix.

How to fix it

  1. Open the Accountable2You app and go to Monitoring Settings.
  2. Tap Enable Monitoring.
  3. Follow the prompts to install and trust the certificate, then enable monitoring.

🎥 This video walks you through every step.

A few additional troubleshooting notes

  • VPN settings don't always carry over during a device transfer — if your VPN isn't working as expected, you may need to delete the VPN profile and follow the steps above to set up the monitoring again.
  • When in doubt, reinstalling the app is usually the cleanest fix. If you're running into persistent issues after a transfer, uninstalling the Accountable2You VPN and reinstalling Accountable2You on your new device typically resolves them more reliably than troubleshooting the existing installation.

Still running into trouble? Reach out to our support team via chat or email at support@accountable2you.com, and we'll help you get everything set back up.