How to Switch From Android to iPhone (The Move to iOS App, Explained Properly)

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How to Switch From Android to iPhone (The Move to iOS App, Explained Properly)

Saturday, August 8, 2026 · min read

Apple's 'Move to iOS' app carries your Android life onto the iPhone, and it's free, official and much better than its reviews suggest.

Updated August 09, 2026, after a fresh review, with updated visuals and links.

The bad reviews come from people who hit the same three avoidable mistakes. Here's the smooth version, start to finish.

Moving data from Android to iPhone
Photo by mktomasik on Pexels

Common mistakes, and how to dodge them

  • Using cellular mid transfer (the smart network switch) is the single biggest failure cause: airplane mode plus WiFi on the Android makes it bulletproof.
  • Not everything moves: app data for games and banking apps typically restarts fresh, plan your logins accordingly.

Here's how it works

  1. Prep both phones. Update the Android, charge both above 50%, and disable anything that might interrupt: cellular data heavy apps, VPNs, and the Android's smart network switch feature (it hops networks mid transfer and kills migrations).
  2. Start iPhone setup and choose 'From Android'. On the new (or freshly reset) iPhone, walk setup until the Apps and Data screen, tap Move Data from Android. A code appears; don't let the screen sleep.
  3. Run Move to iOS on the Android. Install Move to iOS from Google Play, open it, agree to terms, enter the code. The iPhone creates a private temporary WiFi link between the phones; accept the connection invitation when Android asks.
  4. Choose what crosses over. Contacts, message history, photos, videos, files, WhatsApp chats, call logs, bookmarks and even many mail accounts. Free app equivalents that exist on both stores get added to your App Store wish list automatically.
    • WhatsApp transfer needs the Android unlocked with WhatsApp working
    • Big libraries take time: leave the phones touching distance apart, plug them in, walk away
  5. Finish iPhone setup and verify the sacred three. Complete setup, then check: all photos present (scroll to the oldest), messages from green bubble days intact, and authenticator apps re-enrolled BEFORE wiping the Android.
  6. Keep the Android alive for one week. Overlap week: the forgotten app login, the notes that didn't sync, the 2FA code you need. Wipe the Android only after seven days of peaceful iPhone life.
Setting up a new iPhone from Android
Photo by Andrey Matveev on Pexels

Tips that actually help

  • Messages come over as history, but go to Settings, Apps, Messages and enable iMessage on day one: your Apple contacts will thank you.
  • Google organization muscle transfers too: install Gmail, Maps, Drive and Photos on the iPhone and log in once, everything reappears instantly.
  • Turn off the iPhone's auto lock in Display settings during the transfer to prevent sleep from pausing it.

Quick answers

The transfer failed halfway, now what?
Simply restart both phones and run it again: the app repeats safely. Chronic failures almost always trace to VPNs, network switching or weak WiFi.

I already set up my iPhone without transferring. Do I have to erase it?
For Move to iOS to work, unfortunately yes: it runs during setup. Transfer your new iPhone stuff to iCloud first, erase, run the migration, restore.

Keep reading

That covers it

Same WiFi, code entered, selection made, one week of mercy for the old phone. The iPhone inherits your life without a single lost thread.