Google just made it even easier to switch from iPhone to Android

By Daniel Bader
last updated

Google has made it even easier to switch from an iPhone to an Android phone using Google Drive (opens in new tab).

The company updated its Switch portal to reflect the Drive update, which can be downloaded onto the iPhone and used to back up all pertinent content, including contacts, calendar events, and photos & videos, to their respective places.

While Drive itself doesn't store all of the data, it uses Google's cross-platform prowess to upload contacts, calendar events, images and videos to Google Contacts, Calendar and Photos, respectively. Previously, users had to manually perform the backups through those apps; now, Drive does it for you.

Then, once the backup is complete, signing into a new Android phone with the same account will restore the data to its rightful place. The service even backs up iCloud entries.

This also applies to the Google Pixel, though that phone comes with its own adapter to transfer content directly from an iPhone to Google's new flagship.

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Daniel Bader
Daniel Bader

Daniel Bader was a former Android Central Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor for iMore and Windows Central. 

52 Comments
  • Nice. Should have done this long ago.
  • It doesn't matter. iPhone users rarely switch to Android.
  • This is funny, I'm actually thinking of maybe going the other way next year lol.
  • Why?
  • Lol I did already. I still use my nexus at home alot and to check AC but I've had a decent time on iPhone so far. My advice,don't end up on some plan stuck with it though. I'm just taking somewhat of a vacation from android till I find a phone that really catches my eye.
  • I switched to Nexus 5x on project Fi from iPhone 5 months and have been happy. Though if Google ever permitted iphones on PF (yeah I know PF sim card in iPhone accesses TM) I might consider going back.
  • You should have stayed with Android, this is the worst time to switch to iPhone, seriously there's no reason why anyone should switch to an iPhone, when Android is far superior to iOS in every department. I'm s former iPhone user who switched to Android and I have no regrets, iOS is a garbage, limited, restricted, bug ridden OS while Android is freedom and Bliss and I can customise to my hearts content.
  • Every department except updates. I am an Android geek from the first moment but lately I have been thinking too about switching. If I see how long it takes for my recent Samsung phone to get updated. Also Google had issues with rolling out Nougat on all their supported devices day 1. That goes for the OS but also for all those server based staged rollouts. With iOS everybody with at least a 5 year old device gets the update at the same time. Same goes for app updates. Also now that Google is making groups within their own "fanbase" with the Pixel exclusive stuff doesn't help.
  • I wouldn't even listen to tolani he used to be on iMore spouting off the same crap about Android and how iOS was God's gift to humanity now he's switched extremes to being a major Android apologist. Somebody who goes from those two major extremes can't be trusted. I like both OSes but do prefer iOS but I won't berate somebody for using Android it's all about what makes us happy. Honestly I thought he was the Richard Yarrell of iMore hahahaha. 
  • Apart from my Android phone, I have an iPad too. I like both OS'es. First thing I do after a factory reset of my iPad is remove all the stock apps and install the Google ones and it works great. I do the same on my Samsung and Windows 10 pc :p
  • How is he being an apologist? He is staying his opinion after being deep in iOS for so long.
  • Your whole comment is the truth!
    I switch between the two a lot, and also Windows phone when I feel like it. I understand the preferences (and downfalls) of each. They are all fun.
  • Security updates are monthly for me on my s7e here in Canada which was traditionally one of the last to roll out updates. Can't complain there.
    As far as os updates, i went through lollipop and marshmallow updates and noticed very little difference to my current experience outside of what Samsung added in. Probably because many features brought in on the OS were in Samsung beforehand. So far, in Nougat, i haven't seen anything interesting except for again what Samsung is layering in. In all honesty, i wish samsung would roll out updates separate from Android OS.
  • I myself prefer staged rollouts. The negative is what iOS sometimes experiences with rollouts. If you have a big problem, you now have that big problem spread across your entire customer base until you fix it. Staged rollouts make more sense. Is it really that big of a deal that I got split screen functionality on my phone the day the staged rollout began vs. 2 weeks later? Sorry. That just doesn't bother me to have patience. And if there's a problem, you find it with a much smaller group of your customer base affected and can fix it before rolling out to the rest of your customer base. This is a positive and not a negative.
  • I get your point. But at least let there be a button for people who actually want to update now and take the risk. Now it's just lottery and those who want early acces don't get it, while others who don't want updates do.
  • This is shocking. I cannot begin to count how many times this tolani05 guy used to attack me whenever I had the audacity to say that something Android-related was better than iPhone. Did the Lord strike you blind for three days before your conversion Saul? (Sorry to those that don't know the Bible. ;) )
  • I switched to Android from iPhone as well. There was almost zero learning curve.
    Love my Samsung Galaxy S6 and will never go back to the iPhone.
  • Me too. Have been on android since the Nexus 5 but still have an iPad mini 2. And an iPhone 4 that is still going strong. The things I miss most are iMessage, iMovie and the fact that iPhones can still output to HDMI using cables. Android seems to be dropping MHL and Slimport in favour of casting, but I sometimes need HDMI when I can't get a WiFi signal.
  • Can we back up SMS though?
  • No. What you see in the pic is what you can back up. Which is odd because when I got the Pixel I was able to transfer SMS and even iMessages.
  • Why do you guys write articles like this and purposefully leave off important details, like SMS/MMS? Come on, man.
  • Nothing important in SMS basically throw away chats
  • I did it much easier. Just walked away from it and left a couple thousand behind in media and games. Haven't looked back and only use my work iPhone for long distance calls. It's pretty much a dumb phone now with everything disabled.
  • Excellent!
  • Now why aren't they offering something similar for switching from Windows Phone to Android? They don't even have anything on their help pages related to that subject.
  • Do people still have Windows phone's?
  • Yes they do and they won't be able to find any help from Google if/when they want to switch to Android.
  • That's because there's only like a dozen of them at this point :(
  • There's very little you can do on Windows with a Google account (mainly due to Google refusing to support its customers who use the platform) so why bother?
  • Google is right not to support a crappy platform like WP.
  • "Do people still have Windows phone's?" My nephew in Montana has one, but I think he's the only one.
  • This. It's funny that the other way around works.
  • Because windows phone users are banned from the support system,along with Firefox OS users.
  • It's simple. If every single person with a Windows phone switched and bought an Android, Google would still lose money developing the application and supporting the back end. There is zero incentive to do this. I know people like to think the Google hates Windows phone users, but that's not true. The truth is that they don't care one way or the other, which is possibly worse.
  • Fair cal on apps but the "Switch to Android" article on Google's help site doesn't even acknowledge Windows Phone (or anything else outside of the iPhone for that matter).
    https://support.google.com/android/answer/6193424
  • With a WP you are best backing up most stuff on OneDrive and Outlook.com From a PC with a browser you can easily switch mails, contact and calendars to Gmail if you wish. You can upload your pictures to Google Photos through the web or download the client. Same with files if you want to use Google Drive. You can also download all the MS apps and sign in there and see all your content anyway or add your Outlook.com adress as an "exchange account". Sync works with android. As for backup apps, that wont be a problem since no one is interested in developing UWP apps
  • That's because WP is garbage next to Android and not worth it for Google to bother creating an app and people are leaving crappy WP in droves anyway so Google doesn't need to do anything to kill WP as Microsoft have done a fantastic job of making WP an unattractive OS.
  • Google should have a Project Fi app for iOS.
  • Not until they formally permit iphones on the system. Little chance of that happening soon.
  • You guys should have warned updating your app will come with adds
  • 100% agree with this. Updated it on my main phone last night and hated it instantly. I am not updating it on my other phones.
  • Wait what?! The main app or the forum app?
  • If only Apple would allow a switch to iOS app on their App Store, but I guess that would go against their protectionist and anti-competitive business practices (that largely go unchecked).
  • Why is there so much such a facination with Apple?
  • Because they are the other big wig. Additionally, generally that is where a heavy amount of the switchers come from.
  • Google should have done this ages ago with a switched to Android app.
  • hey... nice
  • OMG why all those ads in this AC app now? What a crap update LOL
  • Yep, more ads than articles. Guess they had to do it at some point though as people are moving away from the desktop site which is completely garbage due to the amount of ads.
  • Because of ad blockers of course.
  • Good thing I have an ad blocker on my phone so I still don't see ads.
  • Right on point