By Laure RenouardShare:

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Changing Android smartphone does not mean starting from scratch. You can easily transfer all of your data, from messages to apps to photos. How to do ? We will explain everything to you...

Have you just acquired a new Android smartphone? If you can't wait to use it, it's better to take the time to fully get it started: these few minutes spent transferring your data from your old mobile will then make your life easier. We will concentrate here on the transition from one Android terminal to another.

Google has long offered a system called Tap & Go, using NFC, which has now disappeared from smartphones. However, the American firm has not abandoned those who wish to find their applications, photos and messages on a new device. Since Android 10, that is to say the version of the operating system available since 2019, all you have to do is connect to a wifi network to find your data. These are saved in Google's servers, they are simply repatriated to the new device of your choice.

An Android option is hidden in the settings of your old (and your new) smartphone, allowing you to save its content (applications, call history, contacts, settings, photos, videos, SMS/MMS) to Google Drive . It may even already be activated without you knowing it! The Android settings menus sometimes vary slightly depending on the manufacturer, but you should find the backup option, to activate on your future ex-phone, in the menus below:

Regardless of the brand of smartphone, the principle is always the same: you must activate the backup on Google Drive and choose "Backup now" or "Synchronize now".

When starting your new mobile, you will be offered to “Copy your apps and data”. All you have to do is let yourself be guided, keeping your old mobile handy, or bringing your Gmail account and its password. The operation takes at most a few minutes.

And from an iPhone?

In this specific case, Google Drive will be your most valuable ally. You will indeed need, from your iPhone, to download the Google Drive application for iOS. Once connected using your Google account, you will need to go to the application settings, then click on "Save" (all or part of your content). Warning: iMessage and FaceTime calls will no longer work on Android! You must therefore, before switching to your new smartphone, deactivate them. You will be able to recover your Photos, your contacts and your calendar.

Data transfer from your smartphone manufacturer's application

If the old phone and the new one are of the same brand, the transfer is often facilitated by the manufacturer's official application. In this case, it is not necessary to make a full backup of your data on Google Drive, the two phones will create a direct wireless network to transmit contacts, photos, videos, applications and other settings.

Each manufacturer has its own application. We find the following titles:

These builder apps are usually very user-friendly and intuitive. They make it easy to migrate all data and offer the best experience to feel immediately comfortable with your new phone. They are all similar. We will describe the procedure here on the OnePlus Switch application, but it is identical on the applications of other manufacturers.

In the case of the OnePlus Switch app, recently rebranded as OnePlus Clone Phone, all you have to do is choose whether the phone used is the old one or the new one. If you choose "I'm an old phone", your old mobile asks you to scan the QR Code displayed by your new device (on which you will have chosen "I'm a new phone").

By reading this code, the two smartphones create a protected Wi-Fi network, which allows the data transfer to start. All can be transferred wirelessly (contacts, settings, photos, videos, applications, wallpaper, ringtone, etc.).

Note that on startup, manufacturers' data transfer applications request permissions in all areas of the phone (contacts, call logs, SMS, storage, etc.). It is imperative to accept them to properly save all data from one phone to another. And of course, the manufacturers have planned your arrival if you have ever had an iPhone before: all you have to do is choose an Apple product as your source, and let yourself be guided.

Data synchronization from third-party applications

Third-party applications for synchronizing data were still legion two years ago. There were titles such as Helium, now unavailable on the Play Store, or Titanium. This last app no ​​longer has software support since 2019 and no longer works on Android 11. In other words, we can no longer advise you on its use. It should also be noted that the Play Store is full of applications offered by various publishers, the operation of which is to say the least random, and which are often full of advertisements hindering their use. Under these conditions, it seems more relevant to us to advise you to stick to recognized tools.

However, there is still a must for restoring SMS and MMS locally: SMS Backup & Restore. The application has a somewhat dated interface, but remains easy to use, and above all functional. It allows you to create a backup of messages in XML format on the old smartphone. All you have to do is copy and paste the file on a computer, then on the new smartphone on which the same app will have been downloaded beforehand; even more simply, the file can be saved on a microSD card which will be moved from one smartphone to another. If this is not a problem for you, it is quite possible to save this XML file on Google Drive, which eliminates the computer step.

To remember

Several solutions are available to users to transfer their data from an old to a new Android smartphone. The simplest is probably the method proposed by Google, which works very well. However, it requires storing private data online. Data transfer applications, whether published by manufacturers or independent, allow you to choose precisely which elements to restore to the new phone, without the need to save the data on external servers.

Finally, let's add that it is still possible to use a simple computer to transfer images, videos and other documents from one Android smartphone to another. All you have to do is connect the old and the new smartphone to the same computer, selecting the “data transfer” mode on each: they will appear as storage devices. For example, all you have to do is copy and paste the files from the “Camera” or “DCIM” folder from one to the other to find your images on your new phone.

Head of mobility department