Ready to make the move from iOS to Android? Here's
everything you need to successfully switch from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy,
Google Pixel or any other Android device.
So, you're ready to leave your iPhone for greener pastures —
specifically, the bright green hue of Google's Android ecosystem.
It's a major move, to be sure, but it doesn't have to be
daunting. Beneath the surface-level differences, Android and iOS actually have
a lot in common — and with the right steps, you can switch from an iPhone to an
Android device without losing anything significant (including your sanity).
Make your way through this easy-to-follow guide, and you'll
be happily settled in your new high-tech home in no time.
All-in-one iOS-to-Android switching tools
First things first: Some Android devices, like Samsung's
Galaxy phones and Google's Pixel products, ship with their own all-in-one
iPhone-to-Android switching systems. These systems may include special software
and possibly even physical cables for moving a bunch of data from your iPhone
to your new Android device in one fell swoop. If your Android phone offers such
a service, it's a smart place to start.
Of course, these all-in-one methods aren't available for
every phone, and they don't always work flawlessly or across all of the areas
relevant to your needs. Next, we'll get into the step-by-step details of how
you can get every important category of data moved over on your own, bit by
bit, without giving yourself a migraine.
Calendar, contacts and photos
We'll start with a simple three-for-one special. Believe it
or not, the core categories of calendar, contacts and photos are among the
easiest things to migrate from iOS to Android.
All you've gotta do is install the Google Drive app onto
your iPhone, then sign into the app using your primary Google account. (If you
don't yet have a Google account, the app will give you the opportunity to
create one.)
On your iPhone, open the Drive app's menu, select
"Settings" and then "Backup." If you're interested in
moving over some but not all of the available areas, you can tap whichever area
you want to handle individually. If you want to move them all at once, just tap
the blue "Start Backup" button to let the app deal with everything
together.
This process may take a while and burn through a fair amount
of data, so you'll probably want to save it for a time when your phone can be
plugged in, connected to a reliable Wi-Fi network and not immediately needed
for anything else. That being said, you can always hit pause and start things
up again later, so don't worry too much about the timing.
All done? Excellent: Now just sign into your new Android
phone with that same Google account. You should be able to find your calendar
data in the Google Calendar app, your contacts data in the Google Contacts app
and all of your photos and videos in the Google Photos app. (Depending on your
device, some or all of those apps may be preinstalled by default; if any of
them is not, you can simply download and install it from the Google Play
Store.)
One exception to the rule: If your contacts or calendar data
is connected to a Microsoft Exchange account, it won't be moved over as part of
this process. In that scenario, you'll need to add your Exchange account into
the Gmail app on your Android phone (see the next section for more detail), and
your contacts and calendar info should then automatically show up in the
appropriate apps.
Email
All right — ready to bring all of your email over to your
shiny new smartphone? That migration will range from "ridiculously
simple" to "relatively hassle-free," depending on the specifics
of your setup.
Choose your own adventure:
If you're currently using Gmail: There's nothing to do; just
make sure you sign into your Android device with the same Google account
associated with your Gmail address, and all your mail will automatically appear
in the Android Gmail app and be waiting for you. If you have more than one
Gmail address and want to be able to access them all on the phone, open the
Gmail app's settings and look for the "Add account" option, then
follow the steps to add any additional Google accounts into the mix.
If you're currently using a webmail provider like
Outlook.com, Hotmail or Yahoo: Add the account into the Gmail app on your new
phone, using the same steps described above but selecting the appropriate
account option on the "Add account" screen.
If you're currently using Apple Mail: Once again, just add
the account into the Gmail app on your Android phone. There's a little more to
it this time, though: After you select "Add account" within the app's
settings, tap the line labeled "Other," type in your email address
and then select "Personal (IMAP)." When prompted, put in the various
mail server settings provided on Apple's support site.
If you're currently using Exchange: Same basic deal, but
select the option for "Exchange and Office 365" in the "Add
account" section of the Gmail app's settings. The app will walk you
through the rest of the setup procedure.
One final option to consider: If you're using any of the
aforementioned non-Gmail account types and want to ditch your old address and
move entirely into Gmail, you can import all of your old account's email into
Gmail by following the steps on this Google support page. You may also want to
instruct your old mail service to forward all new messages to your Gmail
address so you don't miss any important missives from people who haven't yet
learned about your move.
Messaging
Not surprisingly, Apple's iMessage system doesn't play
nicely with non-Apple platforms. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to
leave; you just have to take the right set of steps to avoid missing-message
misery.
First, go into Settings on your iPhone, tap
"Messages" and then toggle "iMessage" to off. While you're
in Settings, you'll probably want to look for the "FaceTime" option
and toggle it to off, too, since you presumably won't be active on that
platform anymore.
Second, open Apple's "Deregister iMessage" web
page and scroll down to the section labeled "No longer have your
iPhone?" Put in your phone number, click the link to send a confirmation
code and then type the confirmation code you receive into the page.
Both of these steps are critical; if you don't complete
them, Apple will likely intercept at least some of your incoming text messages,
and you'll never even know you missed 'em.
If you want to keep all of your existing text messages and
bring them over to your new phone, an app called iSMS2droid can get the job
done. The process is a bit gnarly and involves manually backing up your iPhone
to a computer, then finding specific files and transferring them onto your Android
phone — but if you really need to save all your old messages, it's about the
best option you have.
The silver lining is that once you're on Android, keeping
your messages synced and available on any device can be thought-free. Just be
sure to pick a messaging app that automatically backs up and restores data from
the get-go, and you'll be fine as wine.
Files
So long, iCloud Drive — hello, Google Drive. The most direct
way to get all your data off of Apple's cloud storage service and onto Google's
is to install the desktop apps for both iCloud Drive and Google Drive on your
Mac or Windows PC. Then, open Finder or File Explorer windows for both
locations, select everything from iCloud Drive and drag it over to Google
Drive.
Wait for the transfer to finish, and that's it: Every one of
your precious files is now available via Google Drive on Android (as well as on
iOS and the web).
Apps
The bad news: Any apps you've installed on your iPhone won't
automatically transfer over to Android, and any apps you've paid for on iOS
will likely have to be purchased again.
The good news: These days, most major productivity apps are
readily available on both platforms. And once you're all set up with Android,
all of your apps and app data will automatically sync with Google's servers and
follow you to any future Android devices.
Take a few minutes to go through Google's Play Store —
either on your Android phone or via a web browser on any computer — and search
for the apps you want. If you install an app onto your phone and it asks you to
sign in when you first open it, make sure to use the same username or email
address you used on your iPhone so that any data tied to your account will
carry over.
After you've settled in, you may want to explore a bit
further beyond the apps you already know. Unlike iOS, Android allows all sorts
of clever tools for customizing and controlling the core user interface, and
some of them can enhance your efficiency in pretty interesting ways.
Music
Thank your lucky stars, because bringing music over from iOS
to Android is no longer the absolute nightmare it once was.
There's nothing to it if you use a streaming service like
Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music or even — amazingly — Apple Music; just
download the equivalent app from the Google Play Store, sign in, and your
entire collection will be at your fingertips in seconds.
If you have your own personal music collection, your best
bet is to download the Mac- or Windows-based Music Manager app for Google Play
Music. It can find and import any music stored on your computer as well as in
iTunes, in formats ranging from MP3 to WMA, FLAC and OGG — and even AAC files
without digital rights management (DRM) protection.
The one lingering exception is any music purchased from
iTunes prior to 2009, as such songs were encoded into a proprietary and
DRM-protected version of the AAC format. Those files, by design, won't be
compatible with any other music service. If you want to pay $25 for a year of
Apple's iTunes Match service, you can "exchange" those files for
non-DRM-protected versions that'll work anywhere.
Otherwise, your only real option is to employ the old-school
workaround of burning those tracks to a CD (assuming your computer still has a
CD burner, of course), then putting the CD back into the computer and ripping
the songs into a standard unlocked format. That'll result in lower-quality
audio than you'd get purchasing the tunes directly from almost any music
service nowadays, but it is what it is.
Welcome to Android
Well, wouldya look at that? You've done it! All your
important info is now off your iPhone and on your new Android device, and
you're ready to start anew as a card-carrying Android phone owner.
Before we bid adieu and send you scampering off on your new
adventure, let's take a moment to go over a few things of note as you learn
your way around this wild new world.
First, the getting-around basics: No matter where you are in
Android, you can always swipe down once from the top of the screen to see any
pending notifications and swipe down a second time to see the full Quick
Settings panel. And speaking of notifications, Android makes them exceptionally
easy to control — so learn the ins and outs of notification management and
don't let your phone's alerts control you.
Those three virtual buttons at the bottom of your screen?
You've probably figured out by now that one is a universal Back button and one
is a familiar-seeming Home key (which many devices allow you to press and hold
to access the Google Assistant, Android's version of Siri).
The third and typically square-shaped button lets you view
your most recently used apps and jump around the operating system. It has a
couple hidden functions, too: You can double-tap it to snap between apps, a la
Alt-Tab in Windows, and in some versions of Android, you can long-press it to
launch a split-screen mode for viewing two apps on-screen at the same time.
Last but not least, you've no doubt seen some scary-seeming
stories about security on Android. Be aware: Most of that stuff is overly
sensationalized and woefully misleading. Malware really isn't a real-world
issue on Android, and Google has its own multilayer security system in place to
protect you from all sorts of threats — including the most realistic one of
all: a lost phone.
