Having point you throughthe not - all - that - straightforward processof shift from Android to iOS , we ’re back to tell you how to go in the opposite direction . ( Make your mind up will you ? ) Going from Apple - power devices to Google ’s weapons platform is either ridiculously easy or rather tax , bet on your current apparatus .
Do you Google?
skillful news if you ’re already heavily invested in the Google ecosystem on your iPhone . you may switch to Android in an minute or two and keep your evening free for seeing friend or browsing Netflix . Otherwise , better cancel those evening programme .
Those of you who spend all your time in Gmail , Google Calendar and Google Maps for Io can simply set up those apps on your brand new Android twist , sign in using your Google account statement credentials , and pick up where you leave off . The same applies forGoogle Photosand Google Drive .
Unlike Apple , Google does n’t have a consecrated app to help you defect to its nomadic OS , but it doeshave a websitewith a lot of the selective information you ’re going to need : basically you ’re instructed to use Google Drive to copy over contacts , photos , videos and calendar entries , which we ’ll cover in more item below .
Image: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo
If you ’re thinking about switching from iOS to Android in the futurity , or like to switch mobile os on a regular base , then Google ’s cloud - centric services make the job much easy — so your best off keeping all your data there . By contrast , the only official Apple app you’re able to get on Android at the moment isApple Music .
Messages and emails
untangle yourself from iMessage is perhaps the big challenge facing those jumping ship to Android . iMessage does n’t work on Google ’s platform , and there ’s no way to export all your message history into a comparable Android app . You ’re go to have to say goodbye to iMessage , but you could at least check a clean break . As before long as you know you ’re making the move go into your Io and navigate to Messages in options and turn iMessage off , then go to FaceTime in options and turn that off too . Apple ’s full instructionsare here .
If you have some precious iMessages or obviously old SMSes you ca n’t leave behind , you ’ll necessitate to rely on third - party software and some rather convoluted processes to back it all up.iSMS2droidpromises to spell messages from an unencrypted support you made in iTunes on your estimator into Android . If you do n’t require the backup on your phone , thenPhoneView(macOS ) andCopyTrans(Windows ) are two of many tools that will let you pasture your old missives to your heart ’s contentedness .
As for emails , Apple ’s system supports IMAP , so you could bear on checking your iCloud electronic mail through Gmail on Android if you ’re not having a fresh start and giving up your old email address completely . Tap the drop - down arrow on the Gmail app menu , choose Add account , and followthe shape instructionsprovided by Apple . It ’s the same procedure if you ’re using any other kind of electronic mail app on your raw Android gadget , likeOutlookfrom Microsoft . The only necessity is that it supports the popular IMAP communications protocol .
You have a twosome of other options if putting your iCloud account directly into Gmail does n’t appeal . you could have all your Apple iCloud electronic mail automatically forwarded to your unexampled Gmail address , by pop off into iCloud Mail on the web andsetting up forwarding — you could even delete the originals after they ’re passed on . Alternatively , you could exportall your old emailsusing Mail on a Mac just in case you ever postulate them again , then close down your Apple account .
Contacts and calendars
As long as you just want to make a one - way , one - time permutation from iOS to Android , thenGoogle Drive for iOSmakes the process of moving contacts and calendars over simple enough . Once you ’ve got the app installed on your iOS gadget , open up the bill of fare then pink options and Backup . opt the data you want to transplant across to the tantamount Google history , tap Start Backup , and you ’re on your way — everything from iOS and iCloud gets picked up . Make trusted you ’re on wi - fi , and the iPhone is plug in during the switchover . Also observe , that any previous backups you ’ve done will beoverwritten .
If you want a two - agency sync , which you might if you ’re using your Android earpiece with an Apple laptop computer , then it ’s a stack more complicated . The best option , really , is to throw to using Google contact and calendar as much as you could , and then adding your Google account to the relevant apps in macOS ( Add Account from the primary app bill of fare in both cases ) .
Even then you postulate to ensure you ’re always add case to the Google calendar ( or contacts ) and not the iCloud ones for them to show up on your sound . If you absolutely must keep both Google and iCloud services endure at the same time , and syncing with each other , then you ’ll postulate to put your combine in a third - party app formacOSorAndroid .
Photos and videos
Since Google Photos came into the world it ’s in reality middling soft to get all your personal photo and videos moved over to Android , via Google ’s server , as long as they ’re all still on your iPhone : InstallGoogle Photos for iOS , prefer to back everything up , and out you go . you’re able to either pay Google for storage and keep everything at full result , or take some resizing ( images max out at 16 MP , video recording at 1080p ) , and store as many photo and videos as you like on the web , liberal of bearing .
The appendage is even more square if you use the Google Drive app as we described in the section above , and Google pic even stick out Live Photos these twenty-four hour period , using those redundant few frames of animation to make a GIF for you . The only negative is that the record album you ’ve make in Io do n’t get copy over ( everything appears as one long leaning of pictures ) , so you need to create them again .
All that is easy enough but if you ’ve receive photos in iCloud you ’ve propel off your iPhone then you might have a problem or two on your hands . As we explained inour full guide to the topicof switching between Apple Photos and Google Photos , just about the only option open to you is download them all from iCloud to a macOSor Windows machinethen uploading them again usinga Google Photos client .
It ’s a little convoluted but it ’s doable , and it ’s a lot easier than using the exportation options in iCloud on the WWW , which are much non - existing . If you do n’t have a estimator to move as the middleman between iCloud Photo Library and Google Photos then you ’re stuck — you’ll have to take up a laptop from someone .
Music and movies
As we now haveApple Musicon Android , getting your iTunes euphony on your Android machine is no longer the exercise in foiling it once was . As far as tune you ’ve actually purchased directly from iTunes , it ’s in all likelihood the good choice out there , though you do need to have signed up for an Apple Music subscription to be able to apply the app and get at your purchase .
Otherwise , it depends on where your medicine is and how it ’s stored . Any patently honest-to-goodness MP3s you were syncing to your iPhone from iTunes can be uploaded toGoogle Play Musicinstead ( 50,000 of them can be stack away for detached ) , or you could use something likeDoubleTwist , which is just about the leading pick if you want to keep on using iTunes alongside Android for your music . If you ’re signalize up forSpotifyyou just require the Android app .
as well , if you ’ve been accessing all your movies and telecasting showsthrough Netflix , Plex or Google Play Movies & TV then you just need to rule and set up the relevant app for Android and you ’re ready to go . All these services let you rain cats and dogs to multiple devices from a single account , so you’re able to expect on using your iOS twist if you call for to .
However , any videos you ’ve buy from iTunes wo n’t head for the hills on Android at all — there ’s just no app to do it unless Apple ever get around to stimulate one . Several prick out there will do the job of remove iTunes DRM for you , but since we ’re baffle into mirky legal territorial dominion with that , we ’ll allow for you to discover them for yourself . If you ’ve invested C of buck in an iTunes digital library then you’re able to still watch it on macOS , Windows , and the Apple TV , but not Android .
Apps and games
Generally talk , all the apps you employ on your iPhone are rifle to be available on Android as well , though there are a few exceptions — likeOvercastandDay One . In terms of pay - for apps , you ’re going to have to pay for them all again , unfortunately , though something like a Spotify subscription buys you admittance on both Android and iOS .
Whether all your datum ( from documents to saved games ) moves over with you is another affair and worth assure up on before you make the switch . If you ’re in any doubt , get in touch with the developer now to see what the situation is ( you might be out of luck with anything that bank heavily on the iCloud storage organisation ) .
We ca n’t give you a guide to everything out there , but think about your productivity , fitness , and banking apps . Assess how much data point is stored locally and what ’s going to go on to it . If you may , keep your previous iPhone and new Android phone running alongside each other for a while until you ’re certain everything ’s been moved over successfully without too many bumps in the route .
You might not believe it if you ’ve read everything that ’s above , but moving from iOS to Android is actually much easier than it used to be , thanks mainly to an increase focus on cloud service of process ( even , tardily , from Apple itself ) . As long as you take your time , and do n’t live your life inside iMessage , you do n’t have to finger frighten away by the task .
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