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Android has lengthy reached a degree of maturity the place it does a complete lot of issues proper for many of its consumer base. Nonetheless, there’s at all times room for enchancment, and one space that also frustrates me as an Android consumer is the method of migrating to a brand new cellphone. After utilizing the previous few generations of iPhones, I’ve seen how excellently seamless and easy Apple’s iPhone migration course of is, and it’s one of many first issues I miss once I swap again to Android flagships. Google, it’s 2026, and it’s excessive time you copied Apple’s simplicity in migration.

In case you’re leaping between Android and iOS, you’ll have a headache-inducing expertise. However for Apple customers who’re switching from one iPhone to a different iPhone, Apple has made the information switch expertise mind-bogglingly straightforward.

You must place your new iPhone subsequent to your outdated one, and iOS will switch virtually every thing by itself — together with messages, photographs, all of your apps and their sign-in states (actually!!!), your passwords, your property display screen, and every thing else. It’s such as you barely put your outdated cellphone down and picked it up once more.

The primary time I skilled an iPhone-to-iPhone switch, it felt like magic in a method that my previous Android-to-Android experiences had by no means even come near. Each time I switched my main Android cellphone, it could invariably contain spending a number of hours setting every thing again up. I didn’t should spend any time establishing the brand new iPhone past its migration screens, and that left me speechless.

A part of what makes this magic potential is that each one iPhones run iOS. Apple tightly controls the ecosystem, making certain near-perfect compatibility even when each telephones aren’t on the newest iOS model. An Android-to-Android switch might be between Samsung, Google, OnePlus, or many different Android cellphone manufacturers, every with its personal software program quirks, including extra tough edges and factors of failure. Including the complexities of backward compatibility, it turns into clear why perfection could also be tough to realize on this space. However that’s not a priority for the tip consumer, as they nonetheless expertise frustration.

With the iPhone, you don’t even have to have your new iPhone with you for a seamless switch. Once you purchase a brand new iPhone by Apple, you obtain free momentary iCloud storage earlier than your new cellphone arrives, permitting you to again up all the information out of your outdated iPhone to iCloud for a near-perfect restore in your new cellphone. That is very helpful if it’s good to hand over your outdated iPhone for a trade-in on the time of supply in your new one.

iCloud backups are additionally nice should you ever lose your iPhone. Apple will again up your iPhone each day when your cellphone is linked to energy and Wi-Fi, and is locked. This ensures you at all times have a current backup to revive to your new iPhone. You don’t essentially have to pay for iCloud to retailer your backups, however realistically, most of us will shortly exceed the free 5GB storage restrict. The fee is perhaps price it for the peace of thoughts, particularly because you might be again up and operating on a brand new iPhone very quickly.

iCloud backups additionally embody Apple Watch backups, so that you don’t should arrange your smartwatch both should you lose it.

It’s 2026, and Android-to-Android migration nonetheless sucks

When speaking about Android-to-Android migration, I want to interrupt issues down into a number of classes, relying on whether or not you might be migrating inside the identical model or throughout completely different manufacturers.

Migrating inside the identical model is tolerable, however nonetheless imperfect

When migrating telephones between the identical model of cellphone, comparable to from a Samsung Galaxy to a different Samsung Galaxy or a Google Pixel to a different Google Pixel, the migration course of is tolerable, but not good. You normally get a usable cellphone with a number of faucets (nonetheless greater than what is required on an iPhone), however you continue to miss out on a number of key options for a whole backup and restore.

To start out, you’ll be majorly lacking out on app sign-in states. That is personally my greatest ache level, because it means I’ve to log into each single app over again. Google did announce the Restore Credentials characteristic final yr to maintain you signed into apps while you swap telephones, and extra not too long ago, we’ve seen apps like Uber reap the benefits of it for a greater migration expertise. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless very a lot an opt-in course of for app builders — so except the developer of your favourite app decides to implement it, you’re nonetheless going to get logged out of the app, lose all of your in-app preferences and settings, and even miss out on notifications.

The issue compounds with video games. If a sport doesn’t use social sign-in or cloud backup options (like by Google Play Video games), which a bunch of informal video games are likely to overlook, you’re going to be dropping out on sport progress, too. Beginning over in your favourite and dropping hours of progress just because Android couldn’t get its act collectively quickly sufficient is a giant bummer.

Then there are apps that we are likely to set and neglect for sure options, like Google Photographs backup, Google Maps location sharing and timeline, and Well being Join. In case you don’t actively keep in mind setting them up once more in your new cellphone, chances are high that you just’ve already forgotten about them. For options like Google Maps timeline, it’s good to keep in mind to actively import your timeline out of your outdated cellphone and set it to again up in your new cellphone. The state of affairs is comparable for Well being Join and Google Photographs backup.

In case you’re migrating throughout OEMs, all hell breaks free. Whereas Google would really like you to consider the method is easy and easy, with quite a few methods emigrate your information, the truth is that each one of it stays imperfect and hit-or-miss. Not solely do all the restrictions talked about above apply, however you additionally should take care of migrating fundamental settings, comparable to your property display screen and ringtone preferences, saved Wi-Fi networks, and Fast Settings toggles, as these settings are hardly ever carried over completely. You virtually should arrange your cellphone as new once more, with solely your photographs, messages, and information carried over.

What compounds the difficulty is that app permissions typically get reset within the migration course of, and most of the people (and even the app itself) received’t notice why. For example, each time I’ve migrated telephones, WhatsApp video calls will show a clean preview till I verify the app permissions and notice that digital camera permissions haven’t but been granted on the brand new cellphone. The Restore Credentials API is meant to resolve this situation, however a yr after its launch, we’re nonetheless not there but.

Did I say your photographs and information have carried over? Test once more. In case you’ve used an OEM migration instrument, there’s an excellent likelihood that your media information have been dumped right into a single, flat folder, disregarding any folder hierarchy or creation metadata from the earlier cellphone. So, whereas you’ll technically have your photographs and information in your new cellphone, you’ll seemingly have to start out over with organizing them.

In case you lose your Android cellphone, there’s a excessive chance that you just’ll additionally lose some information. Google gives Cloud Backup by Drive, nevertheless it backs up your apps, name historical past, system settings, contacts, and calendar. It might sound ample, however you’re lacking photographs (except you’ve individually arrange Google Photographs) and information, in addition to different smaller particulars, comparable to your property display screen format. There’s no single iCloud Backup-like answer from Google, and that’s a disgrace.

There’s an argument to be made that Google’s unbundling of photograph backups into Google Photographs is superior to Apple’s bundling of all providers with iCloud backup. You may again up and restore one with out the opposite, and Google does make it robust to disregard/neglect to allow Photographs backups. To Apple’s credit score, you may create iCloud backups with out photographs, however the steps are usually not easy, so most customers merely choose to again up every thing.

For trade-in conditions, manufacturers like Samsung do present momentary cloud backup, in order that’s a win for Galaxy customers. Nonetheless, it’s excessive time Google additionally considers doing the identical with momentary Google One storage for intra-Android migration backups.

It’s 2026 already, and Android backup and migration are nonetheless removed from good. Granted, most customers don’t routinely migrate telephones as I do as a cellphone reviewer. However on the few events that they do have to change telephones, the method is painful sufficient to create a long-lasting impression.

For folks desirous to expertise Android’s variety by leaping between cellphone manufacturers, the migration course of makes them curse this very variety, because it appears everyone seems to be Doing Their Personal Factor. It’s virtually like punishing an individual for getting a brand new cellphone, and that’s not a great expertise. For all of the efforts that Google has put into making it simpler to change from an iPhone, it’s about time the corporate takes a have a look at the Android ecosystem and makes this transition seamless.