COOL! HOW TO SWITCH YOUR IPHONE TO ANDROID

FOR those who have toyed with the idea of swapping their iPhone for Android but found it to be baffling and stressful, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has written a Google+ post on how to switch. HERE This step-by-step guide</a> covers how to keep your contacts, set up your email (Gmail, obviously), and transfer your music and photos.


"Here are the steps I recommend to make this switch. Like the people who moved from PCs to Macs and never switched back, you will switch from iPhone to Android and never switch back as everything will be in the cloud, backed up," Schmidt says. Just follow the steps below and it'll be easy.


1. Firstly, what you'll need to do is setup your Android phone. Here's how to do this:

a) Turn your phone on and connect to wi-fi and login to your Gmail account when prompted

b) Download the Google Play Store and all the applications you used on your iPhone (Instagram, Facebook etc) if available

c) Make sure the phone is running its latest software (to do this go to apps>settings>about phone)












2. Next, Schmidt says to update your iPhone or iPad:

a) Turn the Apple device on, make sure your Gmail is logged in and upgrade the iOS software to the latest version (typically iOS 7+). Do this by plugging your phone into iTunes and clicking update software

b) Check you are using iCloud to back up contacts (go to settings>iCloud>contacts switched on). If not, sign up for it (it's free, anyway)

c) Sync your Gmail contacts (go to settings>email>Gmail account>turn contacts tab on)

Turn off iMessage (go to settings> messages>turn iMessage tab off)

d) Sync your iPhone to iTunes to ensure backup of your photos and music


3. Okay, still with us? Eric says by this point you "should see all your Gmail, have your apps, and have your contacts in the Android phone." If not, manually download contacts on your Mac as follows:

a) Go to apple.com/icloud and login with your Apple ID and click on contacts.

In the lower-left corner, click on the wheel, and "select all" the contacts and "export" the vCard into a vCard file (in Downloads).

b) In a browser, go to gmail.com, click on the Mail button and select "Contacts". You should see a list of your Gmail contacts. Import the vCard file into Gmail/contacts using the "Import contacts" command and it should have manually added your contacts. Delete any duplicates or use the "More / Find & merge duplicates" function.


4. To get all your music on the handset, follow this:

a) On your Mac, connect to your music to Google by downloading Google Music Manager onto the Mac, and run it. Music Manager will upload your iTunes music.


At this stage you should have all your Gmail, apps, contacts and music in your new Android phone. So, take out the SIM of the iPhone and insert it into the Android handset (you might need an adaptor for those with nano-SIMS), restart and off you go!


Any iPhone owners who have felt all too trapped in the past will be sure to welcome this handy guide, although it's worth noting not all apps will magically appear on your new device. Mainly because you can't transfer an app built only for iOS to Android. If you've dropped a wad of cash on an iPhone app, chances are you're going to have to do so again. Also, any movies you have bought on iTunes won't get ported over, either.