Move to Android

So, you're ready to leave your iPhone for greener pastures — specifically, the bright green hue of Google's Android ecosystem. It's a major move, to be sure, but it doesn't have to be daunting. Beneath the surface-level differences, Android and iOS actually have a lot in common — and with the right steps, you can switch from an iPhone to an Android device without losing anything significant. First things first: Some Android devices, like Samsung's Galaxy phones and Google's Pixel products, ship with their own all-in-one iPhone-to-Android switching systems. These systems may include special software and possibly even physical cables for moving a bunch of data from your iPhone to your new Android device in one fell swoop. If your Android phone offers such a service, it's a smart place to start. Of course, these all-in-one methods aren't available for every phone, and they don't always work flawlessly or across all of the areas relevant to you...

We'll start with a simple three-for-one special. Believe it or not, the core categories of calendar, contacts, and photos are among the easiest things to migrate from iOS to Android. All you've gotta do is install the Google Drive app onto your iPhone, then sign into the app using your primary Google account. (If you don't yet have a Google account, the app will give you the opportunity to create one.) On your iPhone, open the Drive app's menu, select "Settings" and then "Backup." If you're interested in moving over some but not all of the available areas, you can tap whichever area you want to handle individually. If you want to move them all at once, just tap the blue "Start Backup" button to let the app deal with everything together. This process may take a while and burn through a fair amount of data, so you'll probably want to save it for a time when your phone can be plugged in, connected to a reliable Wi-Fi netwo...

Now that you’ve got your appointments in order, you’re going to need some people to communicate with. And since you’re already an expert in importing calendar files, you’ll just need to do the same with your contacts. Once again, you’re going to start with your computer, but things are a little different. On your Mac, jump into the Contacts app, and do a select-all so you make sure to grab all the names in your address book (or go through and select the ones you want). Then navigate over to  File  >  Export , and select  Export vCard . Check to make sure the file says something like “Amy Andrews and 200 others,” choose where you want it to go, and hit the save button. It’s just as easy on your PC. Go back to iCloud.com and this time select the Contacts app. Select all of your contacts, click the gear icon at the bottom left of the screen, and find the  Export Vcard  option. Then go back to your Google account on the web, but this time you’re go...

Now that the important information is all ported over, it’s time to get into the fun stuff. We know you’re going to be using your new phone to take tons of photos and videos, but all the ones you took with your old iPhone can come along too. And you won’t need to attach any cables to transfer them. All you need to do is download and run Google Photos on your old iPhone. Really, that’s it. Once you log in to your Google account, the app will do all the heavy lifting for you, scanning the entire contents of your photo library and dutifully copying everything that’s inside (including any photos and videos that reside on your iCloud Drive). And that’s not even the best part. Google Photos won’t even count the space it uses against your Google Drive storage limit, so long as you opt to store High Quality shots rather than full-size ones. If you used the Google Drive transfer process from earlier in this article, Google already put all your photos and videos in Google Photos, so you...

All right — ready to bring all of your email over to your shiny new smartphone? That migration will range from "ridiculously simple" to "relatively hassle-free," depending on the specifics of your setup. Choose your own adventure: If you're currently using Gmail: There's nothing to do; just make sure you sign into your Android device with the same Google account associated with your Gmail address, and all your mail will automatically appear in the Android Gmail app and be waiting for you. If you have more than one Gmail address and want to be able to access them all on the phone, open the Gmail app's settings and look for the "Add account" option, then follow the steps to add any additional Google accounts into the mix. If you're currently using a webmail provider like Outlook.com, Hotmail, or Yahoo:  Add the account into the Gmail app on your new phone, using the same steps described above but selecting the appropriate account op...

Not surprisingly, Apple's iMessage system doesn't play nicely with non-Apple platforms. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to leave; you just have to take the right set of steps to avoid missing-message misery. First, go into Settings on your iPhone, tap "Messages," and then toggle "iMessage" to off. While you're in Settings, you'll probably want to look for the "FaceTime" option and toggle it to off, too, since you presumably won't be active on that platform anymore. Second, open Apple's "Deregister iMessage" web page and scroll down to the section labeled "No longer have your iPhone?" Put in your phone number, click the link to send a confirmation code, and then type the confirmation code you receive into the page. Both of these steps are critical; if you don't complete them, Apple will likely intercept at least some of your incoming text messages, and you'll never even know you mis...

So long, iCloud Drive — hello, Google Drive. The most direct way to get all your data off of Apple's cloud storage service and onto Google's is to install the desktop apps for both  iCloud Drive  and  Google Drive  on your Mac or Windows PC. Then, open Finder or File Explorer windows for both locations, select everything from iCloud Drive, and drag it over to Google Drive. Wait for the transfer to finish, and that's it: Every one of your precious files is now available via Google Drive on Android (as well as on iOS and  the web ).

The bad news: Any apps you've installed on your iPhone won't automatically transfer over to Android, and any apps you've paid for on iOS will likely have to be purchased again. The good news: These days, most major productivity apps are readily available on both platforms. And once you're all set up with Android, all of your apps and app data will automatically sync with Google's servers and follow you to any future Android devices. Take a few minutes to go through Google's Play Store — either on your Android phone or via a web browser on any computer — and search for the apps you want. If you install an app onto your phone and it asks you to sign in when you first open it, make sure to use the same username or email address you used on your iPhone so that any data tied to your account will carry over. After you've settled in, you may want to explore a bit further beyond the apps you already know. Unlike iOS, Android allows  all sorts of clever too...

Thank your lucky stars, because bringing music over from iOS to Android is no longer the absolute nightmare it once was. There's nothing to it if you use a streaming service like Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, or even — amazingly — Apple Music; just download the equivalent app from the Google Play Store, sign in, and your entire collection will be at your fingertips in seconds. If you have your own personal music collection, your best bet is to download the Mac- or Windows-based  Music Manager app  for Google Play Music. It can find and import any music stored on your computer as well as in iTunes, in  formats ranging from  MP3 to WMA, FLAC, and OGG — and even AAC files without digital rights management (DRM) protection.  (Google has said this personal music storage feature will eventually be brought over to the newer YouTube Music service — which is expected to replace Google Play Music at some point in the foreseeable future —...

Well, wouldya look at that? You've done it! All your important info is now off your iPhone and on your new Android device, and you're ready to start anew as a card-carrying Android phone owner. Before we bid adieu and send you scampering off on your new adventure, let's take a moment to go over a few things of note as you learn your way around this wild new world. First, the getting-around basics: No matter where you are in Android, you can always swipe down once from the top of the screen to see any pending notifications and swipe down a second time to see the full Quick Settings panel. And speaking of notifications, Android makes them exceptionally easy to control — so learn the ins and outs of notification management and don't let your phone's alerts control you. If your device shipped with Android 10, you'll find what's sure to be a somewhat familiar-seeming gesture-driven system for getting around your phone: From anywhere in the operating sys...