Interested in
switching to a Samsung phone? Here's how
It's easier than
ever to switch from Apple to its fiercest rival.
Are you ready
to give Samsung another shot after last year's exploding Galaxy Note 7
scandal?
The troubled electronics giant is set to release its next flagship phone, the
Samsung Galaxy S8, on March 29. If you've taken an iPhone detour while Samsung
worked out its issues and are ready to return to Android with the Galaxy S8,
then you'll want to take a few things with you, namely your contacts and
calendar along with your texts, photos and music.
Before you get
started switching, you'll need to sign up for a Google account if you aren't
already using Gmail. You can sign up for a Google account here, which you'll
then need when setting up the Galaxy S8.
With a Gmail
address in tow, it's time to getting started with moving over the data you have
stored on your iPhone.
Mail, Contacts
and Calendar
If you are
already using a Gmail account for your Contacts, Calendar and Mail on iOS, then
you're all set; just sign into the Galaxy S8 with the same account you use on
your iPhone and make sure sync is enabled for Mail, Contacts and Calendar. Go
to Settings > Mail > Accounts and tap your Gmail account and then toggle
on Mail, Contacts and Calendar.
If you are
all-in on iOS and are using an iCloud account, you can still transfer your
contacts and calendars but you are going to need the help of an app. On the
Galaxy S8, install SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar to grab your calendar
appointments and reminders and SmoothSync for Cloud Contacts for your contacts.
These two apps will add your iCloud account to the Galaxy S8, letting you
continue to use your Mac or iPad and keeping your calendar and contacts in
sync.
Text messages
If you need to
take your texts with you, give free app iSMS2droid a try. I haven't used it,
but the app gets positive marks online, has a good rating in the Google Play
store, and has been updated somewhat recently. It requires you to make an
unencrypted backup of your iPhone to iTunes, locate and copy the backup SMS
database file and then import it from the Galaxy S8. Take a look at the
developer's step-by-step instructions.
Music
If you are
streaming with Apple Music, Pandora or Spotify, then you've got no worries.
Just download the apps (yes, there's an Android version of Apple Music) on the
Galaxy S8, log into your account, and your playlists and preferences will be
there waiting for you.
If you have
amassed an iTunes music library that's too large and valuable to give up for a
streaming music service, then you will need to head to Google Play Music on
Chrome or download Google's Music Manager app on the Mac or PC that has your
iTunes library and point it at your music collection. Google lets you store up
to 50,000 songs for free in the cloud, which you can then stream on the Galaxy
S8.
Photos and
videos
The easiest
way to get the photos and videos from your iPhone to your Android device is to
install Google Photos on your iPhone and upload the files. (You can also use
Google Drive to perform a backup of your photos by going to Settings >
Backup.) Then you can just log into Google Photos on the Galaxy S8 and either
view them from their spot in the cloud or download them. You can perform a
similar maneuver with cross-platform cloud apps such as Dropbox and Flickr.
If you have a
large photo library on iCloud, you use the Photos app on a Mac or iCloud.com on
a PC to download photos to your computer to transfer via USB to your Galaxy S8.
To tempt you
to come back, Samsung might offer a 3-month return policy for the Galalaxy s8
*cNEt*
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