The order you do it in decides how much you lose
Switching platforms is mostly a solved problem, and the tools built into both phones handle contacts, photographs, calendars and most messages during the initial setup. What goes wrong is rarely the transfer itself. It is the things that live on the old platform and have no equivalent, and above all it is Apple's messaging service continuing to intercept texts sent to your number after the phone is gone. That one is fixable in five minutes and miserable if you skip it.
What comes across, and what does not
| What | Does it move | How |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts, calendar, photographs | Yes, cleanly | The transfer tool at setup, or an account sync |
| Text and picture messages | Usually | Cable transfer during setup |
| Chats in a third-party messenger | Sometimes | The app's own transfer, often needing a cable |
| Music you bought or subscribe to | Subscriptions yes, purchases mostly | The provider's own Android app |
| Apps you paid for | No | Purchases do not cross platforms; buy again |
| Subscriptions bought inside apps | Only the service, not the billing | Cancel on the old platform, resubscribe |
| A smart watch from the other platform | No | It will not pair with an Android phone |
| Two-factor codes in an authenticator | Only if you export them first | Do this before wiping the old phone |
Advertisement
The order to do it in
- Export your two-factor codes first Before anything else, while the old phone still works. Most authenticators can export to the new one; some accounts need to be re-enrolled by hand, and that is far easier with both phones in front of you.
- Check your password manager works on Android If passwords live only in the old platform's keychain, export them or move them into a cross-platform manager now. This is the single most disruptive thing to discover afterwards.
- Start the new phone and use the transfer tool at setup The wizard that runs on first start does the heaviest lifting, and it is much better than doing it piecemeal later. Have the cable it asks for.
- Transfer chat history app by app, before uninstalling Some messengers offer a one-time transfer that only works during setup of the new phone, and only with a cable. Check each app you care about before you wipe anything.
- Turn off the old messaging service and deregister the number As above. Do it while the old phone is still active on the number.
- Sign in to the services you kept, one at a time Mail, photographs, music, storage. Check each one has actually synced before assuming.
- Keep the old phone for a fortnight, charged Do not wipe it. A fortnight of ordinary use surfaces everything you forgot, and the old phone is the only copy of some of it.
- Wipe the old phone and remove it from your account Only at the end, and remember to sign out of the account first so that it is not left locked to you.
What to install on the new phone
Data Transfer Tool. The transfer wizard itself, present on the new phone and used at setup with a cable. If you skipped it at first start, a factory reset is the usual way to get the offer back.
Copy My Data. The fallback when the built-in tool has already been skipped. Moves contacts, calendars, photographs and video over WiFi with no cable and no account.
Samsung Smart Switch. On a Galaxy, this is the transfer route, and it is better than the generic tools at bringing across messages and call logs. It supports a cable as well as wireless.
ShareMe. General file transfer, useful afterwards for anything you find on a laptop backup and want on the phone without a cloud in the middle.
Google Photos. Where the pictures land. Check the backup quality setting on day one, because the default changes what it costs you in storage later.
Google One. The storage the photographs and the phone backup use. Worth looking at once, early, rather than when it fills up.
Google Messages. The default messaging app on most Android phones, and the one that supports the modern chat features between Android users. Set it as default before you start texting.
Google Meet. The nearest replacement for the video calling app you have left behind, and it works on both platforms, which the one you are leaving does not.
Signal. Worth installing during a switch: it works on both platforms, so the people still on the old one are reachable with everything encrypted regardless of which phone anybody has.
Telegram. Also cross-platform, and its chat history lives on its servers, so a switch of phone costs you nothing at all. Note that its ordinary chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default.
Apple Music. Apple's own Android app, so a music subscription and the library that goes with it survive the switch intact. There is no equivalent phone app for its video service; that one is a browser job.
Bitwarden. A cross-platform password manager, free for personal use, so this is the last time passwords are tied to a phone platform.
Google Authenticator. Where the two-factor codes you exported can live. Turn on its account backup deliberately, and understand what that means before you do.
Find Hub. The Android equivalent of the device finder you are used to. Check it works on day one rather than on the day you need it.
The fortnight afterwards
Expect a handful of small irritations rather than one big failure. Group chats with people on the old platform may look different for a while. Some services will ask you to sign in again in an unfamiliar order. A few apps that were free on the old platform are paid here, or the other way around, because purchases do not cross.
The things genuinely worth checking in the first fortnight are the boring ones: that messages from people on the other platform arrive, that your photographs are actually backing up rather than waiting for WiFi that never comes, and that every account with two-factor authentication can still be logged into. If all three are true, the switch is done.
- Contacts, calendar and photographs
- Mail, and anything already in a browser
- Music and video subscriptions
- Cross-platform messengers
- Cloud storage of any kind
- Text messages, if the old service is not turned off
- Apps and in-app purchases you paid for
- A watch tied to the old platform
- Authenticator codes not exported in time
- Passwords stored only in the old keychain
Export the two-factor codes, use the setup wizard with a cable, turn off the old messaging service and deregister the number, and keep the old phone for a fortnight.
Frequently asked questions
Why did text messages from iPhone users stop arriving?
Because your number is still registered with Apple's messaging service, so those messages go there rather than as ordinary texts. Turn the service off on the old phone and deregister the number on Apple's page; delivery normally returns quickly.
Can I move my chat history in a messaging app?
For some apps, yes, using their own transfer during the new phone's setup, usually with a cable. For others the history stays on their servers and simply reappears when you sign in. Check each app before wiping the old phone.
Do I get my paid apps again for free?
No. Purchases are per platform, and there is no mechanism to transfer them. Subscriptions to a service usually continue, but you may need to cancel the billing on the old platform and start it again on the new one.
What about my photographs, if they are all in the old cloud?
They can be transferred from the account itself, and there is an official request for that, or downloaded to a computer and uploaded again. Do it before you stop paying for that storage, not after.
Should I wipe the old phone straight away?
No. Keep it charged for a couple of weeks, then sign out of the account, wipe it and remove it from your device list so it is not left locked.
Read next
Nothing has infected your phone. Something you installed has permission, and the fix is a list in settings.
A phone will happily run a keyboard, a mouse and a memory stick. It will not power a desktop hard drive.
Hard and fast are different things. Almost every game confuses them, and these do not.
