Steps To Take Before Leaving Your iPhone For An Android Device

POSTED ON April 25, 2019

Some of our users have been concerned about recent news reports that Apple has been intentionally slowing down older devices. We are not advocating to use Android over an iPhone as it is a personal preference. If you do want to move there are certain steps you want to take to smooth the transition.

1. Evaluate Your Application Needs
The more time you spend understanding the Android platform before you switch, the easier the transition will be. The first thing to do is review the apps you use most often or are required to use for work reasons. Are they available through Google Play or the Amazon App Store? If so, check if they are free or paid Android apps and if you will have to buy them again on the new platform, which may require some additional investment. Interestingly, many apps that you may have had to pay for on an iPhone are instead free on Android. This could be a good gives opportunity to consolidate the apps on your mobile device to only include those that you actually use.

2. Deactivate iMessage and Find My iPhone
Once you have planned out which apps you will install first, you need to be sure that your phone will be able to send and receive text messages. Because Apple’s iMessage manages texts to and from iPhone users, if you switch to Android and keep the same number you will not be able to receive any text messages from iPhone users until your old iMessage account is deactivated. Apple has a page dedicated to this task that allows you to preemptively turn off iMessage, or to do so even after you no longer possess your iPhone. The same goes for Find My iPhone, you will want to disconnect the device in question from your account prior to giving the device to someone else.

3. Take a Backup of your iPhone using Google Drive
To make transferring your data from one platform to another easier, Google Drive offers a simple solution in its backup wizard. The first thing you must do is install Google Drive on your iPhone and then log in, assuming you haven’t done so already. Then, by accessing Menu > Settings > Backup, you can save whatever content is on your iPhone to your Google Drive.

You have the option to backup everything by clicking Start Backup, or to pick and choose what to include and what to discard. This process can take up to several hours, so it is a good idea to use Wi-Fi and make sure your iPhone is plugged in during the backup.

Once you have your new Android device, all you must do is sign in to Google Drive on it. It is also worth mentioning that some Android phones have apps that assist with this process, making the switch even easier.

With all of the above in mind, one of our executives is actually considering of doing the opposite, to move from Android to iPhone. A future article will describe the steps to go in the reverse direction.

What has inspired you to make the switch? Share your reasons in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog to be notified of our new posts!

About the Author: Agilitec IT
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