Three ways to switch from iOS to Android

Usually the user has to transfer personal data between smartphones when buying a new model and abandoning the old one.

Data is transferred very easily when the new model runs the same operating system as the old device, but the situation is very different when you want to move from the “iOS” operating system (iOS) to the Google system (Google) “Android” (Android) and vice versa.

Martin Gubin, from the German Authority for Testing Goods and Products, explained that there are 3 ways to transfer from the Apple iOS operating system to the Google Android operating system, and the first method is the Google Drive cloud computing service, The second method is through transfer applications, which come pre-installed on many new smartphones, or other paid programs.

In the third method of transferring between the two smartphone operating systems, the data is transferred manually.

google drive

If the user relies on the Google Drive cloud computing service, he must install the application from the App Store on the old iPhone, and then all the data he wants to transfer to the new smartphone is uploaded, and Martin Gubin confirmed that this method is the way The fastest and most comfortable.

The advantage of this method is that contacts, photos and calendar entries are stored in the cloud.

This process may take several hours, and therefore, Blasius Kawalkoski, from the German magazine "Inside-digital.de", advises that the smartphone battery should be fully charged, and that the phone be connected to a Wi-Fi network.

In the event that the owner of the iPhone does not have a Google account, it is better to create a new account because it will be necessary to use the new Android phone, and when performing data backups, the user must use the same account on the new phone.

However, this method has a drawback in matters related to privacy and data protection, and Martin Gubin explained, "The user may not feel comfortable when all his data is stored on Google's servers."

Corporate Applications

The German expert confirmed that there are many other alternatives to Google Drive, as companies that produce smartphones provide their own applications that help the user in transferring data, such as the “Samsung” application, “Smart Switch” and “Huawei” (HUAWEI). “Phone Clone” and “LJ” “Mobile Switch”, and the data transfer process takes place wirelessly or by cable, and the user may need an adapter in some cases.

The German Authority for Testing Goods and Products confirmed that the process of transferring contact, calendar, photos and video data is very easy through the applications of companies producing smartphones, especially the Samsung Smart Switch application, but some gaps may appear in the data that is transferred, and therefore Jobin advises to make copies Back up data, whether on cloud computing services, external hard disks or computers memory, before transferring data from the old smartphone to the new model.

However, applications cannot transfer all data, as well as the Google Drive cloud computing service. For example, applications cannot transfer data for instant communication applications such as WhatsApp and iMessage, as well as notes or payment applications, and these appear The problem is with the WhatsApp application in particular, and Jörg Vertgen from c't magazine explained: The necessary backup files are not compatible between the Apple system "iOS" and Google Android.

Paid programs

"Some companies have developed special programs for this, but they are often expensive," added Jörg Vertgen.

Examples of such paid programs are: Wazzappmigrator, Mobiletrans or Backuptrans.

If the WhatsApp application is so important that it invites the user to invest some expenses in it, the full service package of these programs can be purchased, which also transmits SMS, appointments, contacts and photos.

Data backup

The importance of data backup appears when the user wants to keep the chat history, and this is done by exporting individual conversations and sending the contents to the user’s email, and less problems may appear with some other instant messaging applications such as Telegram or Threema (Threema) when converting from Apple iOS to Google Android, and the disadvantage of the Signal application is that it has the same degree of complexity as the WhatsApp application.

The “Facetime” application does not work in the Google Android system environment, which also applies to the iMessenger application, and for the SMS text message service “SNS” from Apple, it has no equivalent in the Google work environment, so it must Before switching between the two operating systems, the user must disable the iMessenger service on the iPhone, otherwise SMS messages from Apple users will not reach the new smartphone.

With regard to applications when transferring data from an iPhone to an Android device, the matter is divided into two parts;

Where the free applications can be downloaded from the Google Play application store with ease on the new device, even the Samsung “Smart Switch” application does this automatically when transferring data, but the results of the games are not transferred, if they are not stored in the Internet account. User also buy back paid apps.

On the other hand, the user can transfer subscriptions to music and video services to the Google Android phone easily, when the reservations are made with the providers of these services directly, even the Apple “Music” service itself works on Android phones, but if the subscriptions are booked and paid for via Through Apple, in this case the user must cancel the subscription before switching to the new Android phone, and then re-contract these services with the companies directly.

Since notes cannot be transferred easily, German expert Martin Gubin advises that the contents in an email should be copied and stored manually, so that this data is not lost.

In general, Jörg Vertgen advises the user to leave the old iPhone in the drawer for a month or two to verify the success of the data transfer process, and that he no longer needs his old device, after which the settings can be returned to factory mode so that all data on the iPhone is deleted before selling it or give it to others.