Ask LH: Is There An Easy Way To Migrate From iPhone To Android?

I recently purchased an Android phone because my iPhone is getting old and I can’t afford a new one. I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for porting everything across (contacts, music, apps, etc)? Preferably as quickly and seamlessly as possible! Thanks, Android Luddite

Dear AL,

If you’re looking for a quick and painless migration, it obviously helps if you’re already using Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps on your iPhone. But as a self-confessed “Android Luddite”, I’m assuming you stuck with the apps that Apple served you. This makes things a bit more difficult.

Fortunately for you, we recently published an in-depth guide on this very topic which you can find here. It goes through the entire process of migrating from iOS to Android, with dedicated sections for messages and emails, contacts and calendars, photos and videos, music and movies, and apps/games.

This instructional website from Google should also help to steer you in the right direction. The main steps are as follows:

1. Download Google Drive to your iOS device and sign in with your Google account. (If you don’t have a Google account, create one here.)
2. Open Google Drive on your iPhone, click Backup in the menu settings and select “Start Backup”. (You can elect to back up select content if you don’t want to port everything across.) Note that a full backup may take several hours to complete – so make sure your phone is fully charged and connected to Wi-Fi.
3. Sign in on your Android device and follow the prompts. (Also remember to de-register iMessage. Otherwise, some of your friends’ text messages might not make it to your new phone.)

Obviously, you need to use the same Google account on your iPhone and Android device for the migration to work. Unfortunately, the above process won’t transport your message history from iMessage. (If you want to keep your old messages for some reason, you will need to employ an additional third-party app. The aforementioned guide, linked above, explains the steps in detail.)

You can find additional advice on switching from iPhone to Android here and here. Once your new phone is up and running, also be sure to check out our Best Android Apps roundup. Good luck!

Cheers
Lifehacker

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