Congratulations! This is what we all heard when we buy a new phone. The new handset with new features, latest OS, and security upgrades certainly delight us, but the next moment when it comes to setting up the new phone, installing all the apps, and risk of losing the data comes to the mind, all the excitement flew away and turns into a headache.

Sadly! It’s an inevitable pain that’s a part and parcel of the process of switching to a new phone or resetting the phone. For some people, it’s fun to install the apps in a couple of clicks, but when the app no longer exists in the play store, the app can’t be seen and used again. It’s upsetting.

Catering the need of users who find it frustrating to restore the app, data, and settings on new phones, Android has taken an initiative that will remove the manual installation process from the game and enable transferring everything in a matter of minutes. It’s that easy and effortless.

Intrigued to know? Here are the following steps to restore the apps from the old phone and get them running on the new Android phone:

Create a list of apps you want to transfer

On the limited real estate of your phone, there is a lot which you have stored and set up, and while transferring to the new phone, there exist chances that you may forget to transfer some stuff. It can be avoided by creating the categorized list of items that you like to retain. Mostly, the items get categorized under apps, call history, photos/videos, local files, SMS/MMS, wi-fi password, system settings, and home screen sub-categories that never lets you miss out something on the old phone.

Enable back-up service

Before heading to restore the data and apps from the old phone, it’s essential to know whether the backup service is running or not. However, Android’s integrated backup take the data backup of Gmail, Contacts, Drive, and other Google apps, but it’s not guaranteed for third-party apps. The good practice involves checking phone’s backup settings by opening Settings, then go to Backup & reset option, and then ensure the Back up to Google Drive switch is on for taking the back up of every piece of data.

From Android 6.0 onwards, Android is continuously taking the app’s data backup in an automated fashion. That’s why the amount backed up app data on phones have continuously increased. You can see how much data is backed up on every app when ‘App data’ is selected from the backup list. In the case, the third-party app is not listed in the manage backup list, then you can take the back up of the data from the app’s backup feature itself. Remember, the data backup feature offered by WhatsApp every time you install the app on the new or same device.

Restore apps and settings

To get all the stuff restored, it’s necessary that both old and new phones are registered with the same Google account to let the apps sync the data from the Google Play store automatically. There are two ways to make the data transfer and set up process faster, painless, and smooth.

Once logged in with the Google account on the new phone, you have the choice to restore everything that Google knows about the old device. You will see a list of back up options to restore and when you hit restore, all the data and settings will get restored; when you hit apps, the selected apps will be restored; when you hit Set up screen lock, the screen lock and biometric authentication can be set up or restored; Google assistant can be set up to use voice match and recognize your voice. It’s incredibly easy.

The second way is using NFC chips where just tap and go will helps in transferring everything from one device to another. Both devices must have NFC chips at the back of the phone. You just need to keep the two devices near each other, then you will get a prompt on the new device to log in with existing Google account. Once logged in, the transfer of passwords, settings, and saved wi-fi networks begin, and the apps start downloading on the new device.

Transfer local files

How about local data and settings such as home screen arrangement, SMS, call history, or photos/videos that are not stored on Google cloud storage? These things can also be retrieved on the new phone through third-party apps.
There are home screen launchers available on play store that helps in taking the back up of the screen’s arrangement, widgets, and settings option, and restore them on the new phone in the same organized way.

Android phones don’t have any alternative to Apple’ iMessage, so the text messages stored on devices locally cannot be transferred to the new device unless the help of third-party apps is not taken. So is the case with call history. With third-party apps, the backup copy of the text messages and call history can be created on the old device and locally saved in email or dropbox. Later, when the app is downloaded on the new phone, the list of back up files are enlisted and the selected file can be restored.

The photos or videos captured through phone are locally stored on the device that can’t be transferred without using micro SD card or computer. Google photo app has an answer to this problem. You must install Google photos on the old device, then the app will automatically take the back-up of all the photos or videos taken through phone and which later can be retrieved on any device after Google photos app installation.

Nothing can be less frustrating for game enthusiasts than getting the game app progress erased while switching to new phone. Don’t worry. Most of the games on play store now provide the option to back up the game progress and sync it on the new device when the user sign-in on the new phone with the same Google account.

What’s more? Android phones can make the transfer amazingly easy. See how?

The latest Android phones such as Galaxy S7 or later versions have in-built software that is lending a hand in easily transferring the stuff to new phones, regardless of which company the phones are.

For instance, Samsung provides Samsung switch service that’s built into the settings of Samsung Galaxy S8 and newer devices, which is when turned on, it syncs everything from cloud storage to local files on new devices. The data can be transferred through smart switch service using either a USB cable, SD card, or wireless connection.

Summing it up
In this digital universe, people expect everything effortlessly, painlessly, and seamlessly. Getting everything off the old device and onto the new phone is no exception. Catering the need of Android users, the easiest way to take the back-up of every single piece of data from the old phone, transferring them to the new phone, and restoring it in as-is condition is provided.

With the right combination of Google cloud services, third-party apps, and in-built device software, the users don’t need to worry about what’s going on behind the scenes or view the ugly inner working of setting up. With just a couple of clicks, the users can smoothly sail the ‘DATA TRANSFER’ journey. Follow the steps to enable transfer on-the-fly.