Moving from Google (Android) to iPhone

Question

I have been using Android for many years, now I have an iPhone.

I am used to Gmail, having my Contacts as Gmail contacts, Google maps, backup of SMS to Google, Chrome with sync of online bookmarks, backup of photos to Google Photos, Google Calendar (in browser)

Basically, in what cases should I look for "native" replacements, and in what cases is it natural to use Google stuff?

(I have used the migration app)

Answer 1

For contacts, I expect the iOS contacts app will suffice.

For Maps, while Apple Maps is fine, Google Maps has more data and is what I have decided to use, but you can try Apple Maps for a while and see if it suits you. It does have Siri integration which is a big plus for me. However, I ride my bike for daily transit, and that is one thing Apple Maps does not support.

Safari is a good browser, but if you use Chrome on Windows or Linux I'd recommend sticking with Chrome. There is a plugin available, which is what I currently use, but that is up to you.

Google photos is available for iOS, so I'd stick with that, as for calendar: The IOS calendar app can be synced with your Google account so I'd stick with that as well.

And for gmail itself: I used the iOS mail app for a long time, which is basic but works well, but it really depends what features you want. I currently use Inbox for Gmail, which is a somewhat alternative client.

Hope this helped!

Answer 2

To start, congratulations on the upgrade :)

Now, what I would do is connect the old phone to my computer (Mac or PC), open Finder (or My Computer), and double-click on the GUI representation of the phone to see the contents, now take the folder marked "DCIM" and copy to your computer.

If you have a Mac, open Photos (10.10.3 or later, for earlier see the Windows method below as it's about the same). Now, import the folder into your photo library and sync the library to your iPhone.

On Windows, you'll need to download iTunes from Apple (nowhere else) and then follow this Apple support article, scroll down to "Sync your photos manually with iTunes."