Everyone comes a time in life when it is necessary to replace their smartphone. Some, in the selection phase, could decide to move towards another mobile device with an Android operating system, perhaps only changing the production brand. Others, however, could choose to revolutionize their way of approaching the universe of mobile phones by entering the Apple iOS ecosystem. And vice versa, of course. Occasions, these, in which we will necessarily need some time to adapt to the different interface of the operating system and its specific features.
Not only that, in the immediate future we will also need to know how to transfer data from Android to iPhon, and from iPhone to Android, whether they are files, photos, videos, music, and in general everything we have stored inside the our device. In this guide, we will then discover how to do it step by step, analyzing all the possible scenarios and tools together.
Transfer data from Android to iPhone: how to do it
In case you want to transfer data from Android to iPhone, there is a very simple and intuitive system, moreover provided by the Cupertino giant itself. System particularly suitable for those who need to import all their data in bulk, without a previous selection. This is the app Move to iOS, Move to iOS in English, free to download. The Apple application must be installed on the Android smartphone and used during the initialization phase of our new iPhone. In this way we will transfer everything from contacts to photos and videos, passing through message history, email accounts, web history, calendar, and even installed applications, of course only if they are available on both operating systems .
Before using Switch to iOS we must verify that both devices have charged batteries and that their Wi-Fi connection is active, so as to create an access point between the Android smartphone and the iPhone. Not only that, to check there is also the space available on the new iPhone, which should be large enough to "accommodate" the data of our previous phone. Naturally, the more data we are going to transfer, the longer it will take to complete the procedure in the correct way.After this, let's initialize the new iPhone by following the guided procedure, which will ask us to set some parameters, such as the language or the time zone.
At a certain point, through the Apps and Data screen, iOS will ask us if we want to recover data from a backup, if we prefer to initialize the iPhone as new or if we want to migrate data from an Android device, with the item "Migrate data from Android“. We then select the latter option, tap on "Continue" and wait a few seconds. In this phase, the iPhone creates a Wi-Fi network and generates a numeric code, which we must remember to write down to allow access to the smartphone Android. Let's take this device in hand and install the Switch to iOS app from the Google Play Store, start it and enter the numeric code to connect the two devices. Once the connection is established, select the contents to be transferred, and press "Next" to start the transfer. When it has come to an end, tap on the "Continue" button to continue with the initial setup wizard of the Apple mobile phone.
Transfer individual data from Android to iOS
In addition to using the Apple app Switch to iOS, more suitable for the transfer of large blocks of files, it is also possible to transfer data from Android to iPhone manually, choosing at our discretion the ones that interest us. You will understand that, in this scenario, the procedure is different based on the type of file we want to move from our old device to the new purchase. Don't worry, however, because the solutions are around the corner, illustrated in the following paragraphs of this guide.
Photos and videos
To transfer entire albums, we can rely on Google Photos, which is the Big G service for free and unlimited photo and video backup, if you use the High quality mode, which offers uploading at a maximum resolution of 16MP for photos and 1080p for videos. If these limitations are tight for you, you can always choose the Original mode, which uploads to Google Drive, using the free 15 GB space. Once the storage space available is finished, there is the possibility of making a paid upgrade, with prices starting from 1.99 euros per month for 100 GB of memory. To proceed with the transfer, we must download the Google Photos app on the Android smartphone and iPhone, launching it on both and logging in with the same Gmail address.
Contacts and calendars
To transfer information related to contacts and calendars from Android to iPhone, it is advisable to synchronize your Google account. On the Android smartphone we have to go to the "Settings" and select the items "Users and accounts", then Google and Gmail address, and then move the levers corresponding to the Contacts and Calendar items to ON. So let's tap on "Sync now". Take the iPhone and go to its "Settings" and choose the item "Passwords and accounts", to tap on "Gmail" and activate the items "Contacts and Calendars", by moving the levers to "ON".
Music and documents
If we use streaming music services, Spotify, YouTube Music or Amazon Music, to name a few, all music purchased or playlists created will be tied to the account used for these services, and therefore we will not lose anything by changing mobile phones. All you need to do is re-download the corresponding application on the AppStore and log in to our account to find everything. If, on the other hand, we have music files in the memory of the Android smartphone, we can move them to the iPhone using the free Send Anywhere app. Also to transfer documents from Android to iOS, a good solution is to use the Send AnyWhere application. Alternatively, you can take advantage of the many existing cloud storage services, including Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive.
How to transfer data from iPhone to Android
Now that we know how to transfer data from Android to iPhone, it could be equally useful to understand how to do the reverse operation. In order to transfer photos from iPhone to Android, but also videos, contacts, documents and any file that is still useful on the new device. Fortunately, the procedure is quite simple, considering that the two devices with different OSes can "communicate" with each other using backup and synchronization. Let's then proceed with the first operation, i.e. associate a Google account with both devices, thus synchronizing all the elements in memory. On the iOS device, press on Settings and immediately tap on the items Contacts, Accounts and passwords, and Add Account. Press on the Google logo, log in to our account and press the Next button. Done access, we can verify that we activate the levers in correspondence with the items we want to synchronize – between Mail, Contacts, Calendars and Notes.
Now let's make sure that the Google account set is the default one for synchronizing the address book: then go to Settings, then Contacts and finally Default account, and obviously check off the newly added account. Now, we just have to wait a few seconds for the sync to finish. That same synchronization that can also be done with an alternative method. And just as effective as the one just illustrated. We are referring to the possibility of using the Google Drive backup and cloud storage app. Available for download on both the Google Play Store and the AppStore, it allows you to synchronize your files and data across multiple devices, so they're always just a click away.
To proceed, download the iOS app from the AppStore and launch it. On the main screen of Google Drive that we will face once launched, select the "Login" item and log in with the Google account that we also intend to use on our new Android smartphone. Once logged in, go to the menu , recognizable by the symbol of three horizontal lines, and immediately after we tap on the button with the gear symbol and only at the end on the "Backup" option. At this point, let's select all the items we want to synchronize, so as to verify that they are actually active. The choice ranges between "Contacts", "Calendar events", "Photos and Videos", and to actually perform the much desired backup, all we have to do is plug the item "Start backup".
Once the procedure is finished, if done correctly, we will find all our accounts saved on iOS synchronized with our Google account, and now stored in the Android Contacts application. That's not all, iOS calendar events are synchronized with Google Calendar, and photos taken with our iPhone perfectly reproduced in the Google Photos application. At this point, as well as in transferring data from Android to iPhone, we should have also managed to perform the reverse operation successfully, and without too many headaches. Of course, there are also third-party software on digital stores that allow the transfer of data and files between smartphones with different operating systems. One of the most effective, and to be downloaded completely free, is Smart Switch, particularly suitable for the range of products of the South Korean Samsung.