How to transfer data from Android to iPhone

Just a few years ago, the level of interaction between iOS and Android systems was extremely poor and brought vast inconveniences for those who used two devices at the same time. Even optimization between Windows and Mac experienced severe problems forcing users to find circuitous routes for doing various things. One of such eternal problems has been the question of how to transfer different kinds of data between both operating systems, which still continues to remain acute nowadays. Luckily, it has become a lot easier with an upgrade of in-built iOS and Android features and also the rise of third-party utilities alleviating a number of tasks, such as transferring data from one device to another, for instance. If you are wondering how to transfer your data/files (photos, documents, contacts, smartphone settings, etc.) from Android to iPhone, then this article will be exactly for you. Below, you will find a number of methods ranging from traditional to more advanced ways of transferring smartphone data. Note that some instructions will require you to have a Pc or laptop by your hand.

2. Standard Feature – Move to iOS

A completely free alternative that can be used without any access to a computer desktop is the Move to iOS app. Users have to download and install this app on their Android device to be able to transfer the data to iPhone. As we briefly mentioned before, the only downside of this method is that it is possible to use it while setting up the iPhone after its freshly-done reset. If this is your case, here is what you should do to transfer the data from Android.

1. After resetting your iPhone, choose your language and region and then tap on Set Up Manually on Quick Start screen.
2. Connect to your Wi-Fi network (your Android device should be connected to the same one as well).
3. Continue with setting up your iPhone until you end up on Apps & Data screen.
4. Now, switch to your Android smartphone and install the Move to iOS app from Google Play Store.
5. Open the installed app and tap Continue and agree to Terms and Conditions.
6. Tap Don’t Send and Allow the app to access your device’s location.
7. Tap Continue again. You should now see a screen requesting a one-time code from your iPhone.
8. Move to the screen of your iPhone again and choose Move Data from Android. Then tap Continue.
9. Enter the generated code into the screen on your Android device.

If you are getting an error, then more likely you do not have your Location enabled. You should navigate to your smartphone Settings and turn it on. If everything is done correctly, you should be able to see the screen with the kinds of data available for being transferred.

10. Select what you want to transfer from the list. Additionally, you can also add separate files by clicking on the blue-colored Add Files button at the bottom of the list.
11. Tap Continue after the selection is done and wait until all data ends up transferred to your iPhone.
12. Once the process is done, feel free to close the app on Android and finish the iPhone set-up as you would normally do.

This is basically it. A definitely longer set of steps compared to third-party utilities, but we hope you managed with it. Unfortunately, it is impossible to transfer Music, books, and PDFs using this method, you need to copy them manually. If you want, move on to the second half of our guide and explore what are some other alternatives available.

3. Copy Photos/Videos/Music/Documents to Google Drive

This is an alternative for those of you not minding to upload each piece of data manually. Google Drive is one of the best cloud services available and it is usually already pre-installed on each Android system. You can open it up and use 15GB of free storage for copying your files. Do the following to do it:

1. Find and open Drive on your Android smartphone.
2. Choose Files at the bottom of the screen and click on the + button.
3. Then tap on Upload and choose which files you want to upload. You can also create separate folders.
4. After doing so, install Drive on your iPhone, log into the same Google account, and download or view the files online from there.

4. Sync Contacts/Mail/Calendars

Instead of trying to copy, there is a great feature to synchronize your Google account on both devices. If your Google account records information about saved contacts and calendars, they will appear on your iPhone as well after enabling synchronization and logging into the account. Note that the steps may slightly vary on different Android models.

1. Open Settings on your Android device and navigate to Users & accounts.
2. Choose Google and select the necessary account (if you have many).
3. Select all the services that you want to be synchronized.
4. Then, go to Settings on your iPhone and tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars or Accounts & Passwords.
5. Tap on Add Account and choose Google Gmail.
6. Log into your account and manually turn on synchronization for Mail, Contacts, and Calendars .

5. Transfer Photos/Videos/Music through iTunes

You can also use iTunes for synchronizing the data. For this, you will need access to your laptop as well. Download and install iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, if you have not done it yet. At first, we will have to transfer the files to your computer. Do to this:

1. Connect your Android device to your computer via a USB cable.
2. Create an empty folder and copy photos, videos, and/or music to it.
3. Then, disconnect the Android device and connect your iPhone instead.

after his:

4. Open iTunes and go File > Add Folder to Library.
5. Choose the folder you copied your files to.
6. Then, choose your iPhone and navigate to Photos on the left pane.
7. Enable Sync Photos and select the folder with those copied files.
8. Then, choose All photos and albums and select Include videos as well.
9. Finally, click Apply to save the changes.

After doing these steps, the copied photos will become visible in your iPhone Camera Roll. If you want to do the same with Music, the same steps but in the Music section instead/as well.

6. Last but not least

Since you are already familiar with the advantages of third-party utilities, we would like to tell you about two more utility alternatives – PhoneTrans and MobileTrans. Both of them are quite similar to the already discussed AnyTrans with insignificant variances in different features and pricing plans. For instance, PhoneTrans offers a 60-Day Money Back Guarantee, which means users get get their money back in case they do not find their product useful. Opting for such applications may be a good choice in case you are planning to use their features on a regular basis. They are indeed much more convenient and less complicated compared to more traditional ways of managing data across various devices.

Summary

We hope these 6 suggestions were just enough to get your iPhone started with the same data you already used before. As opposed to earlier times, transferring data between devices has by far become easier nowadays, with a broad range of handy tools removing all the problems and challenges, especially for inexperienced users. If you capitalized on one of the methods specifically, you now know which one to use for migrations of data, if such a need will pop up in the future.