Google launches "Switch to Android" app for iOS users
Google has launched the new Switch to Android app on the Appstore for iOS users. The company is progressing towards helping new customers make their next phones run Android.
Recently, Google also confirmed the addition of YouTube's Picture-in-Picture mode for iOS users soon.
Google's "Switch to Android" feature will make it a lot easier for iOS users who want to switch to an Android device. Currently, this app is not available to everyone.
Google has made it easier for iOS users to switch to Android
In 2015, Apple also launched its own app for android users on iOS, which is called "Move to iOS". After a long time, Google discovered the topic of switching from iOS to Android, and now they have arrived with their solution application.
According to 9to5Google, the app offers the ability to copy "photos, videos, contacts, and calendar events" from your iPhone to your new Android phone. Unfortunately, the Google Switch to Android app does not involve migrating users' apps.
The app specifically highlights the iMessage part due to its importance and also guides users on how to disable iMessage before switching.
This process does not require any data cable connection or anything else. You can easily use the QR code feature. However, data transfer actually happens through your Google account and Google Drive preferences.
Google has included a way to copy data from iCloud to Google Drive, where you have 15GB of storage for free. After this migration process, all your data will be set up as your iCloud photos and videos will be displayed in Google Photos, your events will be flagged in Google Calendar, etc.
Google has also indicated that it will make it easier and will improve soon, allowing more app data to be migrated.
Currently, the app is in AppStore mode that is not listed, which means iOS cannot search for it and install it directly. You can try the "Switch to Android" app using this link.
Here's Google's new Android app for iPhone [Gallery]
to Android" from Google running on your iPhone.
When moving from an Android device to a new one, it's easy to simply connect the two phones together – either wirelessly or using a USB cable – to seamlessly copy all your apps, contacts, messages, photos, and more. By contrast, copying your data from iPhone to Android has never been an almost simple process, involving backing up your data to Google Drive and restoring them manually. Android 12 has made things a little easier, allowing you to copy contacts, apps, and media, but only over a Lightning cable connection.
In the opposite direction, for more than five years, Apple has introduced the "Move to iOS" app dedicated to the Android operating system that tries to make it as easy to join the Apple ecosystem as possible. In July 2021, we reported that Google was working on its own app to help new customers make their next phone Android.
The switch to Android in the App Store has now been launched as an unlisted app – a feature that Apple has only recently launched – that can only be accessed through a direct link that our Insight APK team was able to discover.
Using this link, we were able to successfully install Switch to Android on the iPhone and run it. However, while everything seems to be ready on the iOS side of things, the process of setting up and restoring Android is not yet ready for the availability of the Switch to Android app.
On the first screen, the app explains exactly what it will be able to copy from iPhone to new Android phone, including "photos, videos, contacts, and more."
The next step asks you to scan the QR code that should appear on your Android phone during the setup and restore process. Unfortunately, we have not been able to access this setup flow, but the basic essence is that your new Android phone will create a hotspot to which your iPhone will connect. Once connected, the majority of your important data will be transferred wirelessly.
We can see a preview of how this step works thanks to the screenshots included in the App Store menu. In them we see the toggle "Contacts", "Calendar Events", "Photos" and "Videos". Below these switches, there is a disclaimer stating that only the photos and videos saved locally on your iPhone will be copied to your new Android device, and these media will be handled in iCloud later.
Once the copying is complete, you are reminded to disable iMessage, to make sure that the messages from your friends who still own iPhones are actually delivered via SMS, instead of disappearing into iMessage void. The last step in the process of switching to Android is to request iCloud data transfer to Google Drive/Google Photos. The "Start Request" button simply launches Safari on the iCloud support page where you can "request a copy transfer of your data".
Overall, switching to Android is an exhilarating and straightforward experience, making it easy to leave the walled garden for the iPhone ecosystem. It's not clear at this time when Google plans to launch the switch to Android on a large scale, but given how long Apple's "Move to iOS" app has been in the Play Store, Google's alternative is already arriving years later than it should have been.