Transfer contacts, photos, music and apps from Android to iPhone: How to move from Android to iPhone without losing everything

If you're an Android user thinking about switching to iPhone, you may be concerned about the transfer process. The good news is that transferring contacts from Android phone to iPhone really couldn't be more simple. Turns out Google is good at this stuff. And files are much the same. The basic principle is to back up to either the cloud or a desktop machine, and then sync to iPhone. So let's get into it.

Transfer contacts from Android to iPhone: use Google the simple way

There are two ways of transferring contacts from Android to iOS. We'll outline them both below, but if you have been using your Android phone for any length of time we strongly suggest you try them in the order we have written them. (See also: how to transfer contacts from BlackBerry to iPhone.)
If you have been using your Android phone and Google account (Gmail, Google Play, etc) for any length of time the chances are that all of your contacts will be associated with your Google account. At the very least the ones you use most often should be.
So make sure you have backed up your Android phone. Go to Settings on your Android phone and choose "Accounts and Sync" or similar. Enter your GMail account details and enable synchronisation. Your phone contacts and Google Contacts should now synchronise.
Then go to your new iPhone. Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and add your Gmail account. Make sure Contacts are enabled for the account. You should now find that all of your Google contacts are in your iPhone. See also: iPhone productivity app reviews.

Transfer contacts from Android to iPhone: go deep with Google

For belt and braces, and to make sure this process always works in future, consider doing the following, either on your iPhone after you have followed the steps above, or on your Android before you make the move:

1. Open the Settings application on your iPhone.
2. Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
3. Select Add Account...
4. Select Other
5. Select Add CardDAV Account
6. Fill out your account information in the following fields:
7. Server: Enter "google.com"
8. User Name: Enter your full Google Account or Google Apps email address.
9. Password: Your Google Account or Google Apps password. (If you’ve enabled 2 Step verification, you’ll need to generate and enter an application specific password.)
10. Description: Enter a description of the account (e.g. Personal Contacts).
11. Select Next at the top of your screen.
12. Make sure that the "Contacts" option is turned to ON.

After you've completed setup, open the Contacts app on your device, and syncing will automatically begin begin your iPhone and Google. Any time you set up any smartphone Google should hold the key to all of your contacts. Visit our iPhone spotlight for more iPhone tips.

Transfer contacts from Android to iPhone: just swap SIMS

This works only if your Android phone takes a similar sized SIM to your iPhone, either a micro- or nano-SIM for later iPhone models. (You can of course cut down any SIM to fit, but do this only as a last resort - if you get it wrong the SIM and your contacts are gone for good.)