If you have just made the switch from Android to Apple, and are wondering how to get all your data across, then fret not. Though it might seem impossible to you, there are simple ways to get all your precious data on your new iPhone.
I’m not going to lie. I check the iTunes charts. It’s all about the iTunes charts. I only go on the Internet for the iTunes charts and basketball blogs.
~ Nate Ruess
Android, a Linux-based operating system designed for touchscreen mobile devices, was first launched in 2007. Since then, there has been no looking back for the OS, with updates and new versions being launched roughly once in every six months. Today, Andriod is one of the two most popular mobile phone operating systems, the other being Apple’s iOS.
While we all love our Android phones, there are times where inconsistencies in the user interface, and the dismal battery life makes us want to throw our phones out, and jump on the iOS bandwagon. And indeed, many of us eventually do that. That’s not to say Apple is any better with its iOS; there are many problems plaguing Apple’s OS as well. But if you have jumped ship, then you are going to have a phone without all your data, and that includes your all-important contacts.
Luckily in today’s day and age, transferring data between 2 phones is not only possible, but easy as well. All you need is a computer, some free software, the two phones, the data cables for the phones, and this Techspirited article.
Transfer of Data From Android to iPhone
iOS is not as simple as Android. There is no memory card to just remove and replace with the one from your old phone. To transfer anything to your iPhone, or iPad, or iPod, you are going to need iTunes. In short, you have to take your Android phone, copy all its contents to a computer (which has iTunes installed), then add all that content in iTunes, and finally transfer it to your iPhone. Seems complicated? Well, here’s how you do this. This works for contacts and multimedia content only, and *NOT* for SMS and other settings and files.
Copying Contacts and Multimedia Content to Your PC/Mac
» Go to the contacts folder on your Android and export the contacts to your SIM card. It will create a vCard file.
» Connect your Android device to the computer via USB, and put it in the ‘Disk Drive Mode’. Once you do this, your phone will appear as a drive, or as two drives if you have an SD memory card.
» Create a temporary folder on the computer and name it. Copy all the multimedia content like photos, files, documents and other data to that folder. Don’t do this in haste. Take your time and go through all the folders on your Android device.
» Once you’ve done that, search for that vCard file and copy it to your temporary folder. This vCard file contains all your contacts.
Transferring Photos to Your iPhone
» Open iTunes on your PC.
» Connect the iPhone to the PC via USB cable.
» Your iPhone will be detected in iTunes. Select it from the side-bar or the top-left bar.
» In the main window, you will see a photos tab; tap on it.
» From the dropdown, click ‘sync photos’ and then ‘choose folder’. You will have to select the temporary folder that you created on your desktop.
» Click ‘apply’, and sync will start. Make sure you have all the photos in one folder.
Additional Tip!
If you have music on your PC, then in the iTunes, go to the file menu and click on ‘Add file to library’ to add individual tracks. To add multiple tracks, hold down the control key while selecting files. To copy a complete folder to iTunes, click on ‘Add folder to library’.
Transferring Contacts to Your iPhone
» The first step is to make sure you have email setup on your iPhone.
» Once your email is set up, send yourself that vCard file you copied to your PC/Mac as an email attachment.
» Now, just open that email on your iPhone. Tap on the attached vCard file.
» At the top, you will see ‘Add all contacts’. Tap on that and all your contacts will be saved.
As you can see, transferring data from Android to iPhone is not that difficult, provided you have the know-how, and, of course, a USB cable. With a few simple strategic clicks, data is transferred and the problem is solved.