How to switch from iOS to Android

Planning to switch your phone and operating system from iOS to Android? Find out all the steps you need to take with this guide by iD Mobile. 

 The easiest way to move everything over to your new Android device is to back up your iPhone to a Google account. Here's how:

1. On your iPhone, download Google Drive from the App Store 

2. Open Google Drive and sign in with your Google account 

If you don’t have one, your first step is to sign up for a Google account! Once that’s done and you’re in the Google Drive: 

3. Go to Menu 

4. Tap Settings 

5. Tap Backup 

6. Select everything you want to save on your new phone 

7. Tap Start backup 

It might take some time for everything to back up, depending on how much data is stored on your device and how fast your Wi-Fi is. Once it’s done, simply sign into your Google account on your new Android phone, and you’re all set. 

If you’re transferring a lot of photos, you may want to use the Send Anywhere app. After setting up, simply download the app into both phones and follow the prompts.  

If you’re concerned about saving storage space on your new Android phone, use the cloud-based Google Photos to store your photos. It’s a great space-saver and can be accessed from anywhere using your Gmail account. 

Android is the most customisable mobile software around. If there’s something you don’t like, you can change it and make it your own. If you’re not happy with the app icons on the home screen, or how the clock looks, just download a new icon pack from the Play Store, or customise it with widgets. Just long-press anywhere on the home screen to do this. 

Loved your switch from iOS to Android so much that you’ve now got a new Android phone? Here’s how to transfer all your files and apps across from your old phone: 

First things first, you need to back up your data. Make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi before you start the back-up process as it can drain quite a bit of the old data.  
 
Please note that different makes of Android phones sometimes have different settings. Our guide below is based on Samsung's way of doing things. If you've got a different make of phone the names may differ slightly, but they should be called something very similar. 

With Android phones, once you’ve added your Google account to your new phone, chances are it’s backing up your data automatically, making this process really easy. All you’ll need to do is double-check that everything’s safely backed up. There are three things you need to do.  

Make sure everything is synced to Google

8. Go to Settings 

9. Tap Accounts 

10. Tap Google (your email) 

11. Tap Account Sync 

Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to see which apps back up data automatically to your Google account. Then it’s just a case of making sure everything you want to keep is switched on.  

Make sure you’ve backed up your apps and settings with Google

Not sure whether your settings and apps are backed up? Don’t spend ages adjusting your settings and trying to remember which apps you had. Do this instead:  

1. Go to Settings 

2. Tap System 

3. Tap Backup to turn the service on  

4. If the Backup service isn’t already on, tap Account and switch on your Google account 

5. Make sure the Back up to Google Drive switch is on 

6. Finally, just tap Back up now and all your apps and settings data will be immediately backed up 

Back up your photos to Google

To back up your photos, you’ll first need to download the Google Photos app from the Play Store. Once it’s installed on your phone, just open the app and follow these steps: 

1. Tap the menu icon in the top left (three lines)  

2. Choose Settings 

3. Tap Backup & sync 

4. Make sure the correct Backup Account is selected 

5. Tap the switch to turn on Backup & sync 

You should be able to see all of your photos at www.photos.google.com. 

Restore your data to your new Android

Now for the easy bit. When you’re going through the set-up process on your new Android, you’ll be prompted to log into your Google account:  

1. When you see the Google Sign in screen, put in your Gmail address and tap Next 

2. Type in your password and tap Next 

3. Agree to the Ts and Cs and privacy policy 

4. You’ll then see any backups you’ve made. Choose the most recent backup to restore all your data to your new Android phone 

We hope this has helped you make sure all your important data is backed up and ready to go on your brand-new Android device.