Google turns Drive for iOS into Android migration tool
Google on Tuesday activated a new Google Drive feature that turns the cloud storage app for iOS into a migration tool capable of transferring calendars, contacts and photos from an iPhone or iPad to a new Android device.
Outlined on a page dedicated to assist iOS device owners switching over to Android, the new Google Drive functionality streamlines the often times laborious device setup process. Specifically, Drive backs up crucial iOS data like contacts and calendar events to Google cloud services, then pushes the information down to corresponding Android apps on a new phone.
The process takes only three steps, Google says. First, users need to install Google Drive on their iOS device, or ensure they are running the most current version of the software. A Google account is required to sign in to Drive, which subsequently provisions up to 15GB of free cloud space on Google's servers.
Next, users navigate to Menu > Settings > Backup and select which data sets to back up. Contacts are assigned to Google Contacts, Calendar events go to Google Calendar, and photos and video are uploaded to Google Photos. Depending on the amount of data (read photos), a backup might take a few hours to upload, and the process requires the iOS device to remain on with Drive running.
Once the Google Drive backup is complete, users who sign in to their Google account on a new Android device will see their data downloaded to the respective Android app automatically. Google reminds iOS deserters to switch iMessage off before completing the transition. In the past, customers who failed to disassociate iMessage from their mobile phone number experienced issues with undelivered SMS messages after switching to Android.
Apple introduced a similar, albeit more elegant, all-in-one migration tool called Move to iOS in 2015 to automate the transfer of user contacts, calendars, photos, videos, browser bookmarks, email accounts and SMS history from Android to iOS.
Outlined on a page dedicated to assist iOS device owners switching over to Android, the new Google Drive functionality streamlines the often times laborious device setup process. Specifically, Drive backs up crucial iOS data like contacts and calendar events to Google cloud services, then pushes the information down to corresponding Android apps on a new phone.
The process takes only three steps, Google says. First, users need to install Google Drive on their iOS device, or ensure they are running the most current version of the software. A Google account is required to sign in to Drive, which subsequently provisions up to 15GB of free cloud space on Google's servers.
Next, users navigate to Menu > Settings > Backup and select which data sets to back up. Contacts are assigned to Google Contacts, Calendar events go to Google Calendar, and photos and video are uploaded to Google Photos. Depending on the amount of data (read photos), a backup might take a few hours to upload, and the process requires the iOS device to remain on with Drive running.
Once the Google Drive backup is complete, users who sign in to their Google account on a new Android device will see their data downloaded to the respective Android app automatically. Google reminds iOS deserters to switch iMessage off before completing the transition. In the past, customers who failed to disassociate iMessage from their mobile phone number experienced issues with undelivered SMS messages after switching to Android.
Apple introduced a similar, albeit more elegant, all-in-one migration tool called Move to iOS in 2015 to automate the transfer of user contacts, calendars, photos, videos, browser bookmarks, email accounts and SMS history from Android to iOS.
Comments
SMS/iMessage is a HUGE one for me. I keep a lot of conversations around, sometimes even years after they're finished. Very useful if you want to go back and check a conversation you had with someone (for me a big one is tenants and discussions over any agreements we made). And this is one area Apple doesn't allow developers to access. There isn't even a Permissions setting to give you the option to allow access. Same for call logs.
Perhaps I should have clarified my post. No legal tool that abides by the Terms & Conditions of either Apple for iOS or Google for Android will ever be able to get as much data from an iOS device as it can from an Android device.
Smart Switch (like all those iCloud browsers) is not abiding by Apples Terms & Conditions because they are accessing iCloud by tricking it into thinking it's iTunes or an iOS device doing a restore. I'm actually surprised Apple hasn't sued Samsung for this (I can see Apple ignoring the countless small developers who make this type of software). Perhaps they feel it's not worth it to have another Samsung v Apple trial or bad publicity around what would appear as Apple preventing a person from taking their data with them to another phone.
The App this article is about (Google Drive) is limited in what it can transfer - specifically only things you allow it access to. And on an iOS device it's not possible to allow any App to see your iMessages or your call log. On an Android device you can grant access to this information.
Shouldn't I, as the owner of my information of things such as the call log and iMessage information, be able to take that where ever I want? I should be able to take all my information, from everything I use Apple wise, at anytime to anywhere I want.
All Apple needs to do now is update their Move to Apple app from Android with the ability to transfer Google and Samsung Calendar, Google Photos along with maybe Memo and Notes including Voice Recordings then it will be so much more easier for someone to migrate there data from Android to iPhone. Another option I would also like to see is for them to give you an option to choose what can be transferred from Android smartphones that have external storage and give you the option to move the external data right to iPhone.
When I was on android for many years, I personally never use the Google to store contact and such. I used to sync the phone with a computer and via outlook. Getting contacts and such move from one new phone to another was never a big deal. The issue I always had and I still believe it is the case depending on the phone and I will tell I only used Motorola so I know this was quirk with Motorola, Android OS as whole did not allow you to sync things like App prefs and set up information and save game states. SO that meant every time you update the phone and something the OS for the very few times I got an update, you lost all the other important things about using apps on a phone.
With that said I know there were third party app that help transfer the non contact and calendar items which make the phone useful. But these things were a pain to use. Only the google phones actually worked kind of like the iphone from a backup standpoint but you had to use their cloud services which I did not like doing.
Other than the iphone the issues still exist as far as I know that moving between non iphone does not set up the new phone exact as the old one. Apple nailed this and I do not mind moving to a new Iphone it is a 20 minute activity and I am ready to go.
I was blown away by how many Fandroids downloaded it just to leave a negative review. There were as many one star reviews as 5 star.
the overwhelming majority were whinging how iOS isn't open like the malware ridden android. Or how the file system is inaccessible.
I've played with android a bit and I'll stick with iOS thanks
It's funny you phrase it that way.
I'm completely convinced Android provides a better user experience than iOS, baring users already thoroughly embedded into the Apple eco-system.
What raises questions isn't the OS but the hardware. The only phone running Android that is capable of trading blows with an iPhone is a Pixel, and even then it's evenly matched (e.g. the Pixel has a superior screen, camera and form factor but the iPhone is waterproof, true lens zoom and presumably better resale).