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Switching from Android to iPhone used to mean losing years of WhatsApp chats and emailing photos to yourself in batches. In 2026 most of it moves over in one go with Apple’s free Move to iOS app, during the iPhone’s first setup. The part that still catches people out is everything around it: two-factor codes, paid apps, subscriptions billed through Google Play and a smartwatch that will not pair.
This guide is for anyone setting up a new iPhone (iOS 26) after using an Android phone, whether it is a Samsung Galaxy, a Pixel or anything else. I’ll go through what to do before you start, the transfer itself, WhatsApp, photos and contacts, authenticator apps, and the list of things that do not come across. At the end there is a short section for going the other way, from iPhone to Android.
One key point before anything else: Move to iOS only works while the iPhone is being set up for the first time. If you already set up the iPhone and started using it, you have to erase it to run the transfer. So read the first section before you turn the new phone on.
Before you start: a 20-minute checklist
A bit of prep on the old phone avoids most failed transfers. Do these the day before if you can:
1. Run a system update on the Android phone and update apps from the Play Store, including Chrome (Apple says Chrome needs to be current for bookmarks to transfer) and WhatsApp.
2. Check how much you are moving. On Android, open Settings > Storage (Samsung: Settings > Device care > Storage). If the Android phone holds 180 GB and the iPhone has 128 GB, the transfer will fail; clear space first using my guide on clearing your phone memory.
3. Make sure your photos have an independent backup, such as Google Photos. A transfer that stops halfway should never be the only copy. My guide on backing up your phone photos covers that.
4. Write down or screenshot your two-factor setup: which accounts use an authenticator app, which use text codes. More on that below.
5. Charge both phones and plan to keep them plugged in. Pick a time when you will not need the Android phone for an hour; a call during the transfer can stop it.
6. Know your Google account password and your carrier PIN. You will need both.
Moving your data with Move to iOS
Move to iOS is Apple’s official app for Android. It is free and the only official tool for this direction. It copies contacts, messages (including SMS history), photos and videos, albums, files and folders, call history, calendars, web bookmarks, mail accounts, accessibility and display settings, WhatsApp chats and voice memos. Free apps that exist in both stores are added to the iPhone’s App Store download list. Apple’s full guide is Move from Android to iPhone or iPad.
Step by step
1. Get Move to iOS on the Android phone from Google Play, and turn on Wi-Fi.
2. Turn on the new iPhone and follow the setup. On the Quick Start screen, tap Set Up Without Another Device.
3. When you reach the Transfer Your Apps & Data screen, tap From Android, then Transfer with App.
4. On the Android phone, open Move to iOS, accept the terms and allow the permissions it asks for.
5. On the iPhone, tap Continue on the Move from Android screen. A six- or ten-digit code appears. Type it on the Android phone.
6. The iPhone creates a temporary Wi-Fi network. Let the Android phone join it when asked.
7. On the Android phone, select what you want to move and tap Continue.
8. Leave both phones alone until the progress bar on the iPhone finishes, even if Android says it is done earlier.
9. Tap Done on Android, then Continue on the iPhone to finish setup, and activate your SIM or eSIM if prompted.
Expect anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of hours, depending mostly on how many photos and videos you have. A USB-C to USB-C cable between the phones can speed things up on recent models.
If it fails, Apple’s advice is to turn off mobile data on the Android phone, make it forget saved Wi-Fi networks, restart both phones and try again. Turning off “Smart network switch” or similar settings on Samsung phones often helps too, because those settings can jump off the iPhone’s temporary network.
WhatsApp, photos, contacts and messages
WhatsApp chats
WhatsApp history moves through Move to iOS, not through a WhatsApp backup. The rules:
- The iPhone must be new or freshly reset, and you must not have opened WhatsApp on it yet.
- Use the same phone number on the iPhone that you used on Android.
- On the Android phone, update WhatsApp first.
During the transfer, select WhatsApp on the Transfer Data screen. WhatsApp opens on Android and asks you to tap Start to prepare the export; it signs you out of WhatsApp on Android when it finishes. Go back to Move to iOS and continue. After setup, get WhatsApp from the App Store, sign in with the same number, and tap Start when it offers to import your chats.
Your individual and group chats, media and settings come across. Call history and your display name do not, and the transfer cannot merge with chats already on the iPhone. Once it is done, turn on iCloud backup in WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup so the history is protected on the new phone.
Photos
Move to iOS copies the photos stored on the Android phone. If you used Google Photos with backup on, you have a simpler option for older pictures: get Google Photos on the iPhone and sign in. The whole library is there, and you can decide later whether to move it into iCloud Photos or stay with Google.
Contacts and calendars
Most Android contacts live in your Google account, so the cleanest setup is to add that account to the iPhone: Settings > Apps > Contacts > Contacts Accounts > Add Account > Google. Turn on Contacts and Calendars, and they stay in sync with Google from then on. Samsung users should check for contacts saved to the Samsung account or to the phone only; Move to iOS picks those up, but they will not sync afterward.
Text messages and group chats
Your SMS history comes over. New texts from Android friends arrive in Messages as SMS or RCS, which iOS supports since iOS 18 and which gives typing indicators and full-quality photos in chats with Android users. Old group chats may split into new threads the first time someone replies, which is normal.
Two-factor authentication apps: do this before you wipe the old phone
This is the step that locks people out of accounts. If you use an authenticator app for six-digit codes, those codes are tied to the app on the old phone unless the app syncs them.
Google Authenticator
Recent versions can sync codes to your Google account. Open the app on Android, tap your profile picture and check that you are signed in and syncing. On the iPhone, get Google Authenticator and sign in with the same account; the codes appear. If you never turned on sync, use Transfer accounts > Export accounts on the Android phone and scan the QR code with the iPhone app.
Microsoft Authenticator and others
Microsoft Authenticator backups do not move between Android and iPhone; an Android backup goes to your Microsoft account and an iPhone backup to iCloud, and they cannot be restored across. Keep the Android phone working and re-add each account on the iPhone from that account’s security settings. The same applies to other authenticator apps without cross-platform sync.
Text message codes follow your phone number, so they keep working as soon as your SIM or eSIM is active. Passkeys saved in Google Password Manager stay in your Google account; on iPhone you can turn on Google Password Manager as an autofill source under Settings > General > AutoFill & Passwords. If you want one password manager that works on both systems, my comparison of the best password manager apps covers that, and my guide to two-factor authentication explains backup codes.
What does not transfer (and how to handle it)
Move to iOS is good, but not everything makes the trip. Plan for these:
- Paid apps and in-app purchases. Purchases on Google Play stay with Google. You buy the iPhone version again, unless the app uses its own account (Spotify, Netflix, most games with a login).
- Subscriptions billed through Google Play. They keep charging after you switch. Open the Play Store on the old phone, tap your profile picture, then Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions, cancel there, and subscribe again on iPhone if you want.
- Music, books and PDF files. Apple says these need to be moved manually. Streaming services just need a sign-in.
- App data for most apps. Games with cloud saves and apps with an account (banking, social, notes) sync after you sign in. Apps that kept data only on the phone start fresh.
- Banking apps. Expect to sign in again and verify the new device, often by text code. Do it while the old phone still works.
- Smartwatches. Wear OS and Galaxy Watch models do not pair with iPhone. Fitness bands from Fitbit, Garmin and others usually do.
- Widgets, home screen layout and ringtones. These are system-specific; you set them up again.
Going the other way: iPhone to Android
If you are leaving iPhone, Google’s free Android Switch app on the iPhone moves contacts, photos, videos, calendar events and messages to a new Android phone. Google recommends a cable for most data and says the new Android phone should run Android 12 or later. Details are on android.com/switch-to-android.
The most important step is turning off iMessage and FaceTime before you remove your SIM from the iPhone: Settings > Apps > Messages > iMessage off, and Settings > Apps > FaceTime off. If you already moved your SIM, deregister your number at Apple’s Deregister iMessage page. Otherwise texts from iPhone users keep going to iMessage and never reach your new phone.
My order of operations for switching day
1. The night before: update both phones, back up photos, sort out authenticator apps and note your passwords.
2. Morning: charge both phones, then run Move to iOS during the iPhone setup, with WhatsApp selected.
3. After setup: sign in to WhatsApp, add your Google account for contacts and calendars, sign in to Google Photos if you used it.
4. Same day: cancel Google Play subscriptions, sign in to banking apps, and test that a text and a call arrive on the iPhone.
5. Keep the Android phone, untouched, for two weeks. You will find something you forgot, usually an authenticator code or a photo folder.
6. When you are confident, factory reset the Android phone (Settings > System > Reset options > Erase all data on Pixel; Settings > General management > Reset on Samsung) before you sell or recycle it, after removing your Google account.
