There was once a time when transferring contacts from one mobile platform to another meant manually typing in an endless amount of name...
There was once a time when transferring contacts from one
mobile platform to another meant manually typing in an endless amount of names,
phone numbers and other information. Our smartphones can now do most of the
work for us. And for the most part it can be accomplished in a very small
amount of time.
Which is the best way to transfer contacts from an iPhone to
an Android phone? Today we’ll walk you through all of the easiest methods, so
you can get started and enjoy your Android device in no time.
- Sync contacts with your Google account
First and foremost, to use your Android phone you’ll need a
Google account. If you have yet to set one up, head to Google’s homepage and
select the “create account” option. You can also do this directly from your
smartphone, but the desktop experience is much better.
Once you’ve created your Google account, pick up your iPhone
and navigate to the “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” section of your Settings menu.
This is where you’ll enter in your Google account. Press the “Add Account”
button, select the Gmail option, and enter in your login information.
Your iPhone will then ask which parts of your Google account
you’d like to sync. Make sure the Contacts option is selected; then your iPhone
and Android devices will start syncing contacts with one another. This is the
part where you’ll need to be patient. If you have a lot of contacts, it could
take awhile. Just make sure to keep an internet connection while your contacts
are syncing.
It should be noted that your iPhone won’t tell you when your
contacts are done syncing. To check on their progress, navigate to the Google
Contacts website from your desktop, sign in with your Google account, and check
up on the list of contacts from there.
Once your contacts are done syncing, log in to your Android
device with your Google account information, and you should be all set!
- Transfer with iCloud
If you have iCloud enabled on your iPhone, this method
should take no time at all.
On your iPhone, go to Settings, choose “Mail, Contacts,
Calendars”, then choose “Accounts” where you should see “iCloud” listed. Choose
this option, then turn on the toggle for “Contacts”. Your iPhone will prompt
you to “Merge” your device’s contacts with iCloud.
Once this process is done, navigate to icloud.com on your
computer’s web browser, log in with your Apple ID, then select “Contacts”.
Click on the gear icon in the lower-left corner, then press “Select All”. After
that, click the wheel again and choose “Export vCard”.
Navigate to gmail.com, click on the “Mail” button, then select
“Contacts”. Click the “More” tab, select “Import”, select “Choose File”, then
select your saved vCard file. When it gets done importing, Gmail will display
the number of contacts that have been imported. At this point you may have some
duplicate contacts, and getting rid of these is easy. Simply press the “Find
& Merge Duplicates” button under the “More” tab.
- Transfer with iTunes
If your contacts are stored locally or you’re using an
account other than Gmail, you can also transfer your contacts through iTunes on
your Windows or Mac computer.
First, connect your iPhone to your computer. Open iTunes and
navigate to the device screen by clicking “iPhone” in the upper right-hand
corner. Open the Info tab, then check the box next to “Sync Contacts with.”
Choose “Google Contacts” from the dropdown menu, then enter your Google account
information when prompted.
Once your iPhone is finished syncing, log in to your Android
device with your Google account information, and your contacts should all be
there.
- Use a third party application
If for some reason the aforementioned methods don’t work for
you, using a third party application may do the trick. Here are two of the best
apps we’ve found in the Google Play Store:
PhoneSwappr
With PhoneSwappr, you’ll be able to send all of your
contacts to the cloud and easily retrieve them from another device. To begin,
you’ll want to download PhoneSwappr to both your Android and iOS device. Open
it on your iPhone, and click the “Send Contacts to Cloud” button. It might take
a few minutes to synchronize. Once that’s complete, you’ll be shows a 6-digit
code. Be sure to write this code down on a piece of paper so you don’t lose it!
Open the app on your Android device, and click the “Get
Contacts from Cloud” button. Enter in the confirmation code, and wait for all
of your contacts to sync with your device. This step might take a few minutes.
If everything went according to plan, your contacts should
be automatically added to your Contacts app!
My Contacts Backup
My Contacts Backup is probably the most popular app for
transferring contacts, but requires a few more steps than the first app.
Download My Contacts Backup from the Apple Appstore. Once downloaded, open the
app, and press the Backup button. Once the backup is complete, press the send
button, and enter in your email address.
The app will send a .vcf file to your email address. Once
the email has been sent, open the email from your Android phone, and click on
the file. Once you get confirmation that your contacts have been added, head to
your Contacts app to make sure everything transferred over correctly.
There are a few more ways to transfer contacts from iPhones
to Android devices, but the two listed above are by far the easiest. Do you
have any other methods? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
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