Making the Switch: Transfer Contacts and Calendars from Android to iPhone

Have you or are you considering a switch from Android to iPhone? There are a number of considerations to prepare and make that jump to the iOS platform. We’ve outlined all the steps to make the transition, along with helpful tips on what you can expect on the other side. In this edition of making the switch, we’ll help you transfer your contacts and calendars from Android to your new iPhone.

This tutorial makes the assumption that you are currently using Google apps on your Android device for your contacts and calendars.

Setting up Gmail in iOS
It’s easy to setup Gmail for use with the Mail app on iOS.

1. Navigate to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars
2. Select Add Account
3. Select Gmail
4. Type in your full Gmail email address
5. Select the Next button and Save

Tip: When you delete a message on Mail, iOS only gives you the option to archive it.

Transfer Contacts from Android to iPhone using Gmail and iOS 5
You’ll want to bring all of your contacts within iOS from Gmail to take advantage of the vast integration between apps and your contacts. There is an easy approach using Exchange to move your contacts. Here’s how:

1. Navigate to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars
2. Select Add Account
3. Select Microsoft Exchange

You’ll want to add your full Gmail address in the ‘Email’ field. Do not enter anything in the Domain field. Leave this blank. Now enter your full Gmail address and password.

Select ‘Next’. In the Server field, enter ‘m.google.com‘.

Tip: If you receive an Unable To Verify Certificate warning, you can press cancel to ignore.

Syncing Google Contacts, Calendar with iOS
The final step is to set up syncing between Mail, Google Contacts and Calendar with iOS. You might be prompted as to what you would like to do with existing data on your iPhone. You can choose to Keep on My iPhone or Delete. Choosing Keep on My iPhone could result in duplicate entries. If this is a brand new iOS device, then you shouldn’t have any concerns.

Sticking With Google Apps Post Move To iPhone
If you are a heavy Google apps user online, then there is no reason to make any additional changes to your iPhone. By setting Gmail with Exchange, your contacts, calendar and mail will sync without an issue provided everything is set up correctly.

Moving Away From Google Apps
You can safely delete your newly set-up Exchange account once all of your contacts have synced to your iPhone. At this point, you can sync using iTunes along with your preferred desktop PIM. For Mac users, this is likely to be Address Book. PC users often use Outlook for this function.

Tip: If you are moving away from Google Apps, you’ll want to sync your iPhone before deleting your Exchange account. Contacts will stay on your iPhone, but in our tests, Calendars were removed upon removal of this account. Once you sync with iTunes, then it’s safe to delete the account. Calendars will disappear when you delete the account, but will return back once you sync with iTunes, since they are now technically in iCal or Outlook.

Bonus Tip: In a worse case scenario, it’s easy enough to set things up as outlined above, but then select any of the apps you would like to sync.

Moving from a Droid or other Android phone to iPhone doesn’t have to be difficult. The most important step for most folks is the ability to get all of their PIM data (contacts, calendar, etc.) transferred to their new device. Below are a few other tutorials and tips to get you started with iOS. Have questions? Our iPhone forums are the absolute best place to find knowledgable, friendly iPhone enthusiasts who are more then willing to help out. Not a member, join today!