How to switch from Android to iOS

Lured in by the security and slickness of iOS? Here's how to switch from Android. Photo / 123RF

Have the iPhone 8 and iPhone X caught your eye? Getting a little bored with your Android phone? Whether you're lured in by Apple's suite of services or its slick hardware, there are plenty of reasons you may want to make the leap from an Android phone to the iPhone.

The good news is that Apple has an app that will help you switch from Android to iOS already, which you can download on the Google Play store and makes things fairly easy to port over.

But there are some roadblocks you can run into, even with guidance from the app. So here's a guide to making sure that nothing gets lost in translation.

1) Get your data ready: Backing up your data should be the first thing you do any time you switch between phones.

With Google, this process is actually pretty easy. Your contacts, calendars and mail are probably already synced through your Android device to your Google account. Keep them there, and you can sync your Google Account with your new iPhone when the time comes.

If you have photos on your phone that you want to keep, you can back them up to cloud services such as Google Photos, or even something like Dropbox or Box, and redownload what you want onto your new phone. You can also back them up to a computer, by connecting your phone via a USB cord and pulling what you want onto your hard drive.

For other data you may want to keep, such as documents stored on your phone, you can back those up to a computer or the cloud service of your choice.

When it comes to music, you can drag over anything on your phone to your computer and sync them with iTunes later. If you have music you've bought in Google Music, you can download each album manually to make sure you don't leave anything behind.

If you're a streamer using services such as Spotify or Pandora, you can still long into your accounts just the same once you switch.

And if you're switching to iOS to get away from your Google account, then you can always close that account after you've moved everything over.

2) Download the app on your Android phone: As we mentioned above, Apple has an Android-to-iOS app available on Google's Play Store. It's best to download it to your Android phone so it's ready when you set up your new iPhone.

3) Make the switch: With all the preparation you've done, this part is pretty easy.

Get your new iPhone, and start setting it up. You should hit a screen that has a "Move data from Android" option. Tap on that, and then run the app on your Android phone. You should get a code to verify the process. Type that in, and you're good to go.

4) Redownload relevant apps: One annoying thing about switching is that your apps won't move with you, even if your contacts and calendars do. This can be a good opportunity to weed out apps you don't use as often.

In most cases, you'll be able to use your most frequently used apps with iOS just as you did with Android - particularly ones that require you to make your own account such as Facebook, Twitter or Spotify.

5) Embrace iOS: Switching platforms can be jarring, and there may be a few times in the early days when you deeply regret your decision. This is normal. What can help is knowing what features iOS has to recommend over Android and making the most of them. One of the biggest is the fact that Apple devices play well together. Have a Mac? You can copy-paste between your phone and your computer, or send files really quickly via AirDrop -- all without having to download additional apps.

You'll also get access to iMessage, which can be a much richer experience than the standard SMS texting features on your Android phone. Play around with the stickers, gif keyboard and animations. Use FaceTime.

You may miss the customisation options you got with Android - the widgets, the app launchers, etc. - but iOS is known for running more smoothly and being a little more secure. Plus, if you decide that iOS isn't for you after all, you now know that switching isn't so scary.