Upgrading to a new phone means moving contacts and data across to it and while this is usually fairly simple to do, it can be a bit trickier when switching operating system as well.
But it’s still not too tricky, especially with this step by step guide, which will talk you through everything you need to know when moving from an Android phone or tablet to an iPhone or iPad.
Before you begin the process, make sure that both your Android and iOS or iPadOS device have plenty of battery life – Apple goes so far as to say you should also plug them both in.
You should also make sure Wi-Fi is enabled on your Android device, and that the content you plan to move, which can include contacts, message history, camera photos and videos, web bookmarks, mail accounts, and calendars, as well, potentially, as some free apps, won’t take up more space than you have on your iOS or iPadOS device.
Finally, if you want to move Chrome bookmarks to your iOS or iPadOS device, make sure you’re running the latest version of Chrome on your Android device.
Apple has released an app on Google Play called Move to iOS, which aims to make the switching process as simple as possible. So give that a download.
You have to begin the setup process for your iOS or iPadOS device before you can transfer your Android content. That means turning your iOS or iPadOS device on and following the simple instructions, including selecting the ‘Set Up Without Another [Apple] Device’ option when you reach that point.
Continue until you reach the ‘Transfer Your Apps & Data screen’, and on here tap ‘From Android’.
This screen can only be found while setting up your iOS or iPadOS device, so if you’ve already completed setup, you’ll either need to erase your iOS or iPadOS device and start again or transfer your content manually. Check further down this article for a guide to manually transferring content.
Now it’s time to open the Move to iOS app on your Android phone. Once open, read and agree to the terms and conditions, then tap ‘Automatically Send’ or ‘Don’t Send’, to choose how to share app data with Apple, and if you’re prompted to you should also enable location and notification permissions.
Your iPhone or iPad should currently be on a screen called ‘Move From Android’, in which case, tap ‘Continue’ and wait for a code to appear on your screen. This will either be six or ten digits long.
Once you’ve got the code you can go ahead and enter it on your Android device. After that, your iOS or iPadOS device will create a temporary Wi-Fi network, so tap ‘Connect’ on your Android device to join this.
Once you’ve entered the code, a ‘Transfer Data’ screen should appear on your Android device. You’re then able to select which content you want to transfer to your iPhone or iPad, with options including photos and videos from your camera, other photo albums, files and folders, contacts, message history, calendars, WhatsApp messages and media, web bookmarks, accessibility settings, display settings, and mail accounts.
Some free apps that are available on both the App Store and Google Play may also be transferred.
So select everything that you want to move and then tap ‘Continue’ and wait until the loading bar on your iOS or iPadOS device completes.
Note that your Android device might say the process is complete before this happens, but don’t use either device until your iOS or iPadOS one indicates that the process is finished.
Keep the two devices near each other and plugged in throughout this process.
Once the transfer is complete, you can tap ‘Done’ on your Android device and finish setting up your iPhone or iPad, by following the rest of the on-screen instructions.
Some or all of the free apps you had that are also available on the Apple App Store will likely have been installed on your iOS or iPadOS device during this process. But for anything that wasn’t you’ll have to head into the App Store and download them manually. You’ll also have to purchase and download any paid apps that you were using on your Android device if you want to continue using them on iOS or iPadOS.
Music, books and PDFs meanwhile need to be moved to your iOS or iPadOS device manually. You’ll find instructions for doing this below.
Certain content, such as music, books and PDFs, needs to be moved from Android to iOS or iPadOS manually. You may also want to move other content manually if you’ve already set up your iOS or iPadOS device, as the alternative in that case is to erase your iOS or iPadOS device and start the process above from scratch.
For music, if you use a streaming service such as Spotify or Apple Music you can simply get the app and sign in on your iOS or iPadOS device. If you bought the music, then the process is a bit more involved. In this case, connect your Android device to your computer, find the music that you want to transfer (usually found in a folder called ‘Music’), and copy or move it to your PC.
Then, if you’re using a Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes and click Songs. If you’re using a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open Music instead, or if you’re using a PC, open the Apple Devices app.
Then you’ll want to drag the songs over to the Songs section of the Music app, or the Music section of the Apple Devices app or iTunes Library.
Next, plug your iOS or iPadOS device into your computer, select it in iTunes, Finder, or the Apple Devices app (according to the type of computer you’re using), and then click ‘Music’ and sync your library. You can choose to sync either your entire library or just the music you’ve just added.
Once the process is complete, you’ll find this music in the Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
For books and PDFs, the process is similar. You can likely access them through the app for your ereader of choice, such as Kindle, but if not, move them from your Android device to your computer (explained above, but with the files likely found in ‘Documents’ on your Android device), then from your computer to the Apple Devices app (or the Books app if using a Mac), and sync them with your iOS or iPadOS device. They’ll then be found under Books > Library on your iPhone or iPad.
You can also use broadly the same process for photos and videos, as well as for documents (though if they’re stored in the cloud then you can simply download the relevant app from the App Store).
Documents will usually be found in the ‘Documents’ folder on your Android phone, so transfer them to your computer from there, while photos and videos will typically be found in DCIM > Camera. If you’re using a Mac, you’ll also want to download Android Quick Share to access the files in this folder.
Note that in the case of documents, you might want to download the Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps to then open them on your iPhone or iPad.
For mail, contacts, and calendars, assuming you’re using a big name service like Google or Microsoft, simply add the relevant email address to your iPhone by heading to Settings > Apps > Mail, and then tapping Mail Accounts.
And for apps of course you can simply download them from the App Store – though note that not every Android app you had will necessarily be available.
