Android Switch: Move to a New Android Phone

Android Switch 1.0.968680808 is Google's app for moving your data to a new Android phone. It copies photos, videos, contacts, messages, apps and other content from your old device, whether an Android phone or an iPhone, so the new phone feels familiar from the first day. The app is free, and you can download Android Switch from Google Play; on many new phones it is already built into the setup process.

Quick facts

• Version: 1.0.968680808
• Developer: Google LLC
• Platform: Android
• Licence: free
• Size: about 9.11 MB according to catalogue data
• Get it on: Google Play

What it does

Changing phones used to mean an afternoon of reinstalling apps, forwarding photos and retyping settings. Android Switch turns that into a guided process. During setup of a new phone, or later by opening the app, you connect the old and new devices with a cable or wirelessly, choose what to copy and let the transfer run. From another Android phone it can bring over apps, photos, contacts, calendar entries, messages and many settings. From an iPhone it helps move contacts, photos, messages and other data, and it reminds you to turn off iMessage so that texts reach your new phone. Some apps, particularly banking and messaging apps, keep their own data and need their own backup or sign-in on the new phone; plan for those separately.

Guide: a smooth transfer

1. Charge both phones and connect them to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Back up messenger chats with each messenger's own backup feature.
3. Start the new phone's setup or open Android Switch and choose to copy data.
4. Connect the phones with a cable if you can; it is usually faster and more reliable.
5. Select what to copy and keep both phones close together until the transfer finishes.
6. Sign in to banking, authenticator and messaging apps on the new phone before resetting the old one.

Tips

• Move authenticator codes to the new phone before wiping the old one, or you may lose access to accounts.
• Check that photos arrived completely before deleting anything.
• Remove the old phone from your Google account settings after the reset.

Privacy

The transfer happens between your own devices and your Google account. Use a cable or a trusted network, and do not leave phones unattended while data is being copied.

Pros and cons

• Pro: official Google tool, free.
• Pro: works from Android phones and iPhones.
• Pro: integrated into the setup of many new phones.
• Con: some apps need their own backup or sign-in.
• Con: large libraries take time to copy.

Alternatives

Phone makers offer their own transfer tools; in our listings, Samsung Smart Switch does this for Samsung devices. For moving files later, Quick Share, SHAREit and Xender send files between phones.