Moving from an iPhone to an Android gadget can be somewhat jolting. You probably won’t get the genuine Android experience as Google expected, and you will not see a similar informing intersection across inclination. On the wise side, still, you probably won’t encounter the same in-app restrictions, giving you more copping freedom than you had on an iPhone.
Still, there’s a lot to figure out, If you’re jumping onto the Android crusade for the first time. We’ve put together a comprehensive companion on using the platform and its colorful functions. You can also check out our list of stylish smartphones and smartwatches if you want to get a better idea of the Android ecosystem.
Setting up your new phone
Before you can do anything on Android, you wanted to turn the mobile on and set it up. Then’s a general list of what to do after you’re saluted by the Welcome screen.
Step 1 Elect a language and also valve Launch.
Step 2 Connect to a mobile network by fitting the SIM card (if it’s not formerly). You can skip this step if you want to fit the card latterly or if it’s formerly in place.
Step 3 Connect to an original wireless network by tapping on your network and also entering the word.
Step 4 You can now set up the device as a new phone or choose to copy apps and data from an aged device. However, there are three styles Connecting the aged phone using a USB string, grabbing a backup stored in Google Drive, If you choose the ultimate. This last system leads you toandroid.com/switch — just follow the website’s instructions.
Please note Some of the remaining instructions assume you’re restoring from a backup. However, skip stepping 8, If it’s a new device.
Step 5 Subscribe to your google account. However, valve Get an Account and follow the instructions, If you don’t have one.
You don’t technically need a Google account to use your phone, but it’s needed if you want to download apps, back up your data, or use other Google apps and services. Manufacturers similar to Samsung and Huawei may ask you if you want to produce a fresh, manufacturer-specific account, but you don’t really need to unless you want to use that company’s services as well.
Step 6 If you’re using a pall backup, select your service from the list (if there’s further than one). You may need to enter the Leg associated with that backup.
Step 7 Elect what you want to restore Apps Connections, SMS Messaging, Device Settings, or Call History.
Step 8 Set the date and time.
Step 9 Agree to Google Services and the legal terms.
Step 10 Set up the Screen Cinch using a Leg, pattern, or word. You’ll need this when face recognition or point scanning fails.
Step 11 Set up the point scanner or Face ID (or both). To set up the point scanner, simply place your cutlet on the detector multiple times until your number is registered.
Once you’ve set up your device, you should check to see if a software update is available. Then’s how to do that in stock Android 11
Step 1 Swipe down from to eclipse to expand the announcement shade and tap the gear icon.
Step 2 Tap System.
Step 3 Tap Advanced.
Step 4 Tap System Update.
Step 5 Tap Check for Update.
Android will check to see if any updates are available. However, you can download and install them, If so.
Back up your phone
Once you’re completely moved by, be sure it’s backing up to Google Drive. Then’s how to check
Step 1 Swipe down from to eclipse to expand the Announcement Shade and tap the gear icon.
Step 2 Tap System.
Step 3 Tap Provisory.
Step 4 Make sure Back Up to Google Drive is toggled on.
Please note Backing up prints and vids is a separate process using Google Prints. We give a separate companion on how to back up your Android phone.
The navigation buttons and gestures
By dereliction, stock Android 11 doesn’t present nautical buttons. Rather, you have a Home button (or notch) that also serves as an app hole handle. There are times when you’ll see a reverse button, but generally, the Home button is the only visible tool for navigation.
Still, you can toggle on the old- academy three-button navigation system. Then’s how
Step 1 Swipe down from the top to expand the Announcement Shade and tap the gear icon.
Step 2 Tap System.
Step 3 Tap Gestures.
Step 4 Tap System Navigation.
Stage 5 Tap the circle close to 3-Button Navigation.
Manufacturers generally equip their Android bias with the three-button navigation system at the bottom and use fresh gesture controls. Then’s an explanation of each button ( grounded on stock Android)
Back button The reverse button, on the leftism, will take you back to the last thing you did in an app or return to the last runner in your mobile cybersurfer. Also, holding the button down when using your cybersurfer should automatically open up a menu that makes it easy to pierce your favorite bookmarks, browsing history, and the websites you visit most frequently.
This button resides on the right side of Samsung phones, but it can be moved to the left in Settings> Display> Navigation Bar.
Home button The Home button, situated in the center, will essentially return you to your home screen. In the most recent interpretation of Android, holding down the home button will also spark Google Assistant.
Overview button Pressing the Overview button, on the right, reveals a perpendicular list of every open and active app on your mobile device, allowing you to snappily navigate and jump between colorful apps with a simple valve of the screen. Double-valve this button and you’ll jump straight back into your last-habituated app.
This button resides on the left side of Samsung phones, but it can be moved to the right in Settings> Display> Navigation Bar.
Eventually, some phones may have gesture navigation enabled by dereliction, barring all on-screen navigation controls. For case, on stock Android 11, swiping up from the bottom takes you back home from any app. To switch applications, swipe up from the base, hold, and delivery.
On Samsung bias, you can replace the navigation buttons with gestures. Just swipe up from the nethermost center to return home, swipe up from the bottom left to use the Overview function, and swipe up from the nethermost right to use the Back function. You can turn on gesture controls by taking this route setting> Display> Navigation Bar.
The nethermost line then’s that you can customize your input experience across utmost Android phones anyhow of the manufacturer.
Multiple screens
Android bias allows you to manage multiple defenses — over to five before Android4.4 KitKat and now as numerous as you want/ need. Android used to center the Home screen ( suppose desktop), but now the Google Feed sits to the far left and the Home screen to its immediate right. All other defenses appear to the right of Home.
Druggies can produce lanes, group apps together within flyers, change the wallpaper, change the on-screen app distance (grid), change the style ( fountain, color, app shape), and so on. You can produce, resize, and arrange colorful contraptions too, which display real-time information from apps and may indeed be interactive. These tools are fluently accessible by long pressing on any screen.
All apps are accessible through the App Hole, which resides out of sight at the bottom of each screen (except for the Google Feed). Still, if you don’t want to deal with the app hole, you can always drag app lanes to the defenses and stuff them into flyers, like Games, Work, Music, and so on.
The Notification Shade and Quick Settings bar
Swipe down from the top and you’ll see the Announcement Shade. This is where you’ll see the most exertion, as apps broadcast their announcements in a mound. At the top, you’ll find the Quick Settings bar, which you can also expand by dragging down its “ handle.” On Samsung phones, this handle can’t be seen.
In both stock Android and Samsung phones, you’ll find a Clear link to dismiss all announcements on the shade. You’ll also see Manage ( stock) or Announcement Settings (Samsung) to manage these announcements. To fold the Announcement Shade back to the top, just tap the Home button.
To dismiss an announcement, long press, and slide it left. You can also tap on the announcement (which opens the parent app), or tap the Clear or Clear All link at the bottom of the shade. We give a separate companion on how to turn off announcements in Android.
More on Quick Settings
The Quick Settings bar is an accessible way to pierce your most-used features on the cover and is generally the same experience across all Android phones. It’s one of the most important and most- used aspects of Android. It receives a slight update with each new interpretation of stock Android while some manufacturers apply custom tweaks.
You can pierce this bar without expanding the Announcement Shade by swiping down from the top using two fritters. When you completely expand the Quick Settings panel, it’s jam-packed full of tappable buttons gauging one or two runners. Just swipe left or right to navigate these runners.
The buttons are easy to use. However, similar to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, just tap the icon formerly, If you want to toggle commodity on or off. However, like penetrating Bluetooth or Wi-Fi settings, long press the button until the separate panel appears, If you want to pierce the function’s settings. This saves you time by giving you direct access to those settings versus tapping through colorful orders.
The Quick Settings bar also provides a slider for dimming and cheering the screen. Samsung phones have a fresh toggle to turn on Outdoor Mode that brightens the screen to its outside for 15 twinkles.
Eventually, stock Android provides a gear icon that opens the device settings. The pencil icon allows you to edit the Quick Settings bar so you can move and remove buttons as demanded. Samsung adds a hunting tool, quick access to the power-off screen, and means to change the button order and overall layout.
What apps should I get?
This is completely over to you. There are, still, some introductory apps you should consider. Then are some possibilities
- Social: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram
- Music: Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Apple Music
- Video: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Vudu
- Work: Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Grammarly Keyboard
- Cloud: OneDrive, Dropbox, Box
- Shopping: Walmart, Amazon, Sam’s Club, Target
Of course, you might want to get many good games to play on those long breakouts. Also, Microsoft and Sony give apps for streaming their consoles to your Android device along with other press-related affiliated apps
- Xbox
- Xbox Game Pass
- Xbox Game Streaming
- Xbox Family Settings
- PlayStation App
- PS Remote Play
- PS4 Second Screen
On the off chance that you prefer a game real-time feature, there are applications for those as well:
- Stadia
- Nvidia GeForce Now
- Shadow
- and more
For additional ideas on some extraordinary applications, look at our aide on the best applications accessible on Android.
Extensive customization
Android’s customization aspect has its benefits and downsides. For illustration, manufacturers aren’t forced to use Google’s stock UI design. That’s why writing attendants for Android can be delicate Getting to a setting on one manufacturer’s phone is different on another phone maker’s device.
Still, the customization aspect also means end druggies can confirm their experience. All manufacturers outside Google install a custom launcher, which is basically a skin for the Home screen that changes the App Hole interface, provides different app roadway icons and sources, and adds custom contraptions and many other effects. It doesn’t fully change the entire Android interface — that’s ignited into the manufacturer’s Android revision. Suppose a Launcher is a desktop theme.
Although you’re always welcome to install a third-party launcher, the dereliction launchers created by Google or phone manufacturers like Samsung do a good job of letting you arrange your content in a seductive way.
In any case, assuming you need an extraordinary encounter, introducing an outsider launcher is the best approach. For case, the Nova Launcher and Apex Launcher give two extensively different ways of using the platform, each adorned with its own display aesthetics and navigation factors. You can check out our favorite Android launchers then.
Away from the dereliction launcher, Android allows you to customize numerous factors, like setting the dereliction cybersurfer and switching out the on-screen keyboard. The ultimate may feel like a small point on the face, but choosing a proper Android keyboard from Google Play is pivotal to making your Android experience a productive and pleasurable bone.
Google Assistant integration
Google Assistant is available on all Android bias running Marshmallow6.0 or latterly, and it has one major advantage over other mobile operating systems The hunt machine. In numerous cases — however, not all — Google Assistant is a more comprehensive resource than Siri.
For illustration, Google Assistant will use your hunt history to display applicable news stories and sports scores. It’ll also dissect your trip habits to bring up applicable trip information, while also furnishing you with a time estimate and stylish directions for driving to your coming position. It’ll indeed tell you when to leave, so you don’t miss your coming appointment.
To pierce Google Assistant, long-press the Home button. You can also spark it with your voice using the “ OK, Google” or “ Hey Google” voice commands. However, or if you would like to tweak the point’s settings, open the Google app on your smartphone, If those commands aren’t working.
Google Pay and Google Play
Google Pay only further unifies the Android experience. Like other mobile payment services, it allows you to store physical gift cards, use fidelity cards, pay for particulars in-store, and more. Then’s our companion on Google Pay and how to set it up
- Google Pay comes preloaded on numerous biases, but if your phone doesn’t have the app, you can download it from the Google Play Store.
- Still, you just need to confirm the details to add it to Google Pay, If you formerly have a card in your Google Account. Alternately, you can add a new card from any sharing bank by snapping a picture of your card and attesting the details.
Google Play — the Android fellow to Apple’s App Store — operates as Google’s functionary digital store, allowing you to buy apps, books, pictures, and more with many simple gates. It indeed lets you install apps ever, meaning you can download an app on your tablet when you’re at work and it’ll be there when you arrive home.
A unified Google experience
Android is a different platform. It’s not only installed on smartphones but appears on tablets, set-top-boxes, smartwatches — indeed in Google Glass. You’ll also see it running in an impersonator on Chrome Zilches, adding Android app support to Google’s web-centric operating system for laptops and desktops. Android is also supported by Windows 10, allowing druggies to pair their Android phones to make calls, shoot textbook dispatches, recoup their prints, and see their announcements right on a Windows PC.
Still, Google is the foundation. Google islands the Chrome cybersurfer installed on multiple biases. Google islands Android phones to smart bias like Chromecast and Google Home. Google navigates when you connect an Android phone to auto with Android Auto. Android is a major element in Google’s overall services-first action that’s accessible on all platforms. What Google lacks is a truly unified messaging experience across bias as seen on Apple’s products.
Android setbacks
No Zilches is perfect, and there are many notable issues with Android bias. Despite all the convenience and the modular features, Android is an open platform, and there are ineluctable inconsistencies given the plethora of manufacturers making Android biased. A budget Android phone running an aged interpretation of the platform offers a radically different experience than the rearmost Samsung flagship. Thankfully, utmost problems have enough easy results.
Another issue can be sideloading. Unlike Apple’s bias, Android phone possessors can install (or sideload) apps made available outside Google Play, like Fortnite. The problem is, installing these relaxed apps can be parlous, as they could have implicit malware that can steal your information, like credit card figures and regard watchwords. Always be careful when sideloading Android apps.
Battery life
Long battery life hasn’t generally been Android’s solid suit, yet it’s improving. The utmost recent bias comes with power-saving modes and charge using a simple USB-C string — the kind you can find nearly anywhere. Numerous stylish Android phones support wireless charging too.
Inconsistent updates
Unfortunately, every stoner is at the mercy of Android phone manufacturers when it comes to getting the rearmost updates. Consider a stock Android device, like the Pixel, if you want the rearmost Android flavor as soon as it’s released. The Pixel line of phones is Google’s functionary smartphone range, and they’re guaranteed harmonious updates.
The strike to inconsistent updates isn’t just missing out on new features but the security threat. Major hacks like Stagefright and Heartbleed have urged Google to act with yearly security patches for bias, but numerous manufacturers and carriers stall those updates, performing in millions of vulnerable Android phones.
Bottom line
Android is more customizable and protean than iOS, which makes it enough infernal infectious if you can abstain from Apple’s ecosystem. Though it may be delicate for someone who owns a line of Mac products at home to make the switch, it can be done with a little tolerance and perseverance.
We have a comprehensive tutorial on switching from iPhone to Android for you, complete with instructions for moving your music, prints, and connections.
