How to backup and transfer apps from one Android Smartphone to another?

We don't use a smartphone forever, right? We all want to upgrade to that shiny new gadget in the market, which has features we may need or not. May be just to use the latest gadget. For whatever reasons, we do get a new smartphone from time to time.

Getting a new smartphone can be exciting. Setting up is easy too. But transferring all of our apps, contacts, photos, and more to a new device may be time consuming. And if not careful, we might as well lose some data too. In this post we shall discuss various ways to  backup and move apps and app data to a new android phone?

Transferring files from Android to Android

For most people, the common files to transfer from Android to Android, or for that matter, from any phone to any phone would most likely include:

• Contacts
• Music
• Photos
• Videos
• Calendars
• Files
• Messages

If you are moving from one Android device to another Android device, then it is not that difficult. Thanks to Google's cloud services, it's so simple to transfer all of our apps and data to a new phone running Android.

Apps & data:

All you have to do is sign in to the new Android smartphone with the same Google Account in use on the old device. During the setup process for the new smartphone, Google will automatically detect, and prompt you if you would like to restore your Apps and Data backed up on Google. (Provided, the old smartphone also allowed Google to backup apps and data). This will restore all of your Apps from Google Play and even your Wi-Fi settings.

Photos and Videos:

The best backup and Sync solution for Photos for Android users is Google Photos. Google Photos backup should be enabled by default. However, if not, then you may enable Google Photos backup from the old smartphone, and the same will be accessible from the new smartphone.

• If you want to move photos manually, then copy to a memory card and use it on the new smartphone.
• Transfer wirelessly using File sharing apps etc.
• Or backup to your computer via USB if you don't want to include the photos / videos on the new smartphone.

Google Photos also backs up videos. So you may backup to Google Photos, or move videos manually to your computer to save space on Google Cloud.

Mail, Contacts, Calendar:

Again, thanks to Google Services, we do not need to do anything, if you are using Gmail. When you sign in to the new smartphone with the same Google account, then Gmail will be synced and accessible just like in the old smartphone. Similarly for Google Calendar, the events would be synced and visible on the new smartphone.

Tip: Always save your contacts to Google instead of "on Device" or "on SIM"

For Android users, it is advisable to always save contacts to Google instead of saving to "Device" or other services. That way, even if you change devices, your contacts would always be there on Google Contacts, which can then be easily synced to the new smartphone / device after setting up with the same Google Account.

Regarding contacts, if you are already saving to Google, you may need to check if there are some contacts which are not saved to Google but on device instead. Such contacts may be selected in batch and exported and imported later.

Web history, bookmarks:

On the old smartphone, go to the Chrome settings. Tap on your account name and then sync including bookmarks, history, open tabs etc. Once you select the ones you want, they will be available when you sign into Chrome on your new smartphone.

SMS Messages

Backup and restore of SMS require a little bit more effort than the others. Some smartphones may have its own backup service which may include SMS backup. For example, Xiaomi devices have Mi Could services which also backs up SMS. But it is not going to be useful if the new device is not Xiaomi.

If there are no cloud based services or apps you can use, you can easily find some SMS backup apps from Google Play. Install SMS backup app on the old smartphone and backup the SMS messages. The app would definitely have a feature to export the SMS messages to a backup file. Transfer the file to the new smartphone via Bluetooth, or via file sharing app, or any other ways you can think of.

On the new smartphone, install the same SMS backup app. Then restore the SMS messages using the backup file transferred from the old smartphone.

Tip: For Android users, use Google Services for various purposes as far as possible.

Using different services for different tasks would require different accounts and apps. This may add more hurdles during switching to new devices.

For Android users, it is advisable to use and make the  most of Google Services.

• Mail? Use Gmail.
• Notes? Use Google Keep.
• Calendar? Use Google Calendar.
• Contacts? Always save contacts to Google.
• Photos? Backup and Sync to Google Photos.
• Browser? Use Google Chrome.
• Maps? Use Google Maps.

There are several other Google services which you may be using frequently, or some may be running in the backup without you knowing it.

Samsung's Smart Switch: Switch from Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, or iOS to Galaxy.

Smart Switch is an app from Samsung which is designed to help switch to Samsung Galaxy. It is a fast way to move your contacts, settings, photos and more from an old phone to a new Samsung Galaxy. It's as easy as connecting your devices, choosing what you want to transfer, and the app does the rest for you. The Smart Switch service is built into devices like Samsung S8.  The App is available on Google Play Store for free.

Selling or giving away your old Android Smartphone?

If you are selling off or giving away your old smartphone to someone, don't forget to factory reset. Our phones store so many information, some we may not even know it is there. Therefore, it is a risk to discard the old smartphone without properly cleaning it.

Factory reset will clear the phone data and restore it to the original factory condition. That will remove any new Android updates, Google Security updates etc. if applied. So who ever is going to get the phone would need to apply those updates removed.

See here: Important things to do before giving away or selling your Android phone

Recommended Reading:

• Switch to Android
• Samsung's Smart Switch