Migrate Data to New Android Phones

Where you gifted with the latest and greatest in Android technology this past Christmahanakwanzika holiday season? Did your Android finally keel over and died, forcing you to upgrade? Answer yes? And you’re trying to figure out how to get all your “stuff” (the very technical term for numbers, messages, apps and the like) on your new phone? This article is just what you’re looking for!

This article will focus on three of the most popular apps and systems for stuff transfer for Android phones – Moto Migrate, Lollipop, and Helium.

Transfer Data Using Moto Migrate (Migrate)

Transferring data using Moto MigrateThis is definitely the easiest one out of the three transfer systems, and the one that I really like and use as a die-hard eat, sleep, breathe droid-er. While there may be some slight hiccups if you are transferring stuff from a phone as old as mummy farts to your new phone, for the most part this system works super smoothly.

The first thing you need to do is find the Migrate app in our new phone. Most of the time it will just automatically pop up when you turn on your new phone for the first time. If it doesn’t, just head over to the Google Play icon and search, download, and open up Migrate.

Next, you’ll need to choose what phone you are transferring from – there will be a dropdown list that will give you options after you tap on the button asking you to choose which phone.
Tap on the “Start” button (it will be bright blue). Now your new phone is set up for receiving all your stuff from the old one.

Now, you are going to be told to set up Migrate on your old phone just like you did with your new phone. Be sure that you see on the screen that the app is saying that your old phone is where the transfer of stuff is coming FROM. If you don’t, that’s okay because there is a simple fix. You need to locate the blue link above the “Start” and “Exit” buttons. This will switch your phones so the flow is going in the right direction.

When you’ve got both phones set up and ready to go, just follow the instructions the app will prompt you with. You might see a barcode pop up on your old phone – scan that with your new phone to get the actual transfer to start.

It is important to remember to keep your phones RIGHTNEXT to each other (since Migrate uses the technology of Bluetooth that is set up in every smartphone to work). And once the transfer begins, the amount of time it will take will rely solely on how much stuff you’ve got to transfer. But, once it’s done, you will receive a notification that your stuff is on your new phone.

Yay!

Transfer Data Using Lollipop

Lollipop on PhonesWhile Lollipop for Android phones might not be available to everyone (unless you have a Nexus device), if you want to use it you will see that there are two options to choose in how you want to transfer all your stuff. These are Tap & Go and Get Your Apps & Data.

Transfer Using Tap & Go

This is crazy super easy. It uses the same Bluetooth technology as Migrate does, but it just wicked fast.

Tap your two devices (the old one and the new one) together…just a light tap, no hulk smashing needed to get the process started.

You will see that you’ll be prompted to log in to your Google account on the new phone. When you do, the transfer begins and the app starts its downloading. There will be a notification that will pop up when the stuff transfer is complete.

Holy frijoles, right? I told you it was wicked fast.

Transfer Using Get Your Apps & Go

To start your stuff transfer with this system, you are going to have to log into your main Google account. The reason being is because this transfer system uses all the info Google knows about the Android phones that are linked to that account.

You’ll see a list pop up of Android phones and devices – pick the one that you want to transfer from to your new phone. Once you’ve chosen your phone, you will need to go through the list of apps that pop up and choose which ones will survive the transfer (kind of sounds like Hunger Games, right?) or you can tap on the “Select All” button.

Now the stuff transfer will begin between your two phones – and like with Tap & Go, you’ll get a notification when your new phone has all the stuff that you need on it.

Just a quick word about these two transfer options through Lollipop: you are required to have both your new AND old phone linked to the same Google account – that way the apps and the data and all the other goodies can sync automatically. This is something done on newer Android phones, but just do a quick make sure check before you begin.

How to Transfer Old Data using Helium

Helium Window on a DesktopNow, say that you have that brand new Android but there is no way (or you don’t want a way) to root your phone – that is, have it linked and set up with automatically like most phones are these days. No worries. Helium is the way to go. But, be warned, it is involved and a bit time consuming, especially if you are using the system for the first time.

You first need to purchase and download the Helium app called Sync and Backup. I would suggest getting the professional version – it’s $5, but it will be worth it during the process. Trust me.
Once you have it purchased and downloaded, make sure that the transfer app and the professional license is on both the old and new phone.

Next, you will need to download the “Carbon Desktop” app for your computer (which ever kind you use).

Close up of a keyboardWhen you first start up Helium, you will be prompted to connect your phone to your computer with a USB and once it is connected to open the desktop version. Do this with your old phone first – that way your stuff can be backed up on your computer.

You will see that you have the option of saving all your stuff to the cloud through Google. If you do not want to store your stuff temporarily on your phone during the transfer, this would be a good place to store it all – but the choice is yours since it doesn’t bother the process at all.

You will see something that says “0 apps selected” for backup pop up on the screen of your old phone. And there will be a square directly under those words. There will be a scrolling list of any and all apps on your phone towards the top of the phone’s screen. Tap any of them that you want to make it into the transfer, or “Select All” if you want or need all your apps on the new phone.

Tap on the “Backup” button once you’ve decided what stuff you are wanting to transfer. A bit of advice – you will see a “App Data Only” box that can be unchecked. It just means that while the app will transfer over, you will need to go into Google Play to re-download the app since the data you have with it won’t transfer. I wouldn’t bother with unchecking it, since it’s such a hassle.

Now you will be asked to pick the place where your stuff is going to. Select your phone and the download and transfer will start on its own.

Alright, we are half way there. Phew- we can do this!

Now, open up Helium on your new phone, then connect the phone t your computer. You will be prompted to select the “Restore and Sync” button – go ahead and tap it.

Now is when you go and access your stored data and stuff. If you stored them on the cloud of your choice on your computer, you need to tap on the “Add Cloud Storage Account” to log on and access the cloud storage you are using. Once you’re logged in, go and find all of the backups you chose earlier there.

But, if you chose to store all your stuff temporarily on our phone, you will see a list where your phone will be listed. Tap on your phone and you will be able to access all that information just like with the cloud storage option.

You’ve found your stored data and stuff, right? Awesome! Now it is time to transfer it all onto your spotless new phone.

Similar to how you backed up your information and stuff, you are going to transfer it. You will see that you have the option again to either individually select or “Select All” of the apps you want to transfer over to the new phone.

Remember, if you decided to go with that “App Data Only” option I talked about earlier, now is the time where you are going to have to go into Google Play and find all your apps that you just transferred over and re-download them. I did warn you that it was a tedious and silly thing to do…

When all the apps, data, and stuff are selected and the phone begins its transfer and downloading, you will see a progress bar pop up on your screen so you can see how much time is left. And, just like with Migrate and Lollipop, you will get a notification saying that the download was a success. And then you’re done and free to Android smartphone it up my friend!

Transferring stuff from an ancient phone to a new can be a hassle – it takes time, effort, and a lot of the time, it feels like a person is swimming out in the Atlantic Ocean when it comes to trying to make sense of all the options and instructions. Hopefully this article will give you an option that best works for you and your Android.

If something happened to your phone though, or things went haywire during transfer, you can give the Wondershare Dr. Fone software (at Amazon) a shot. It should help you find the data lost, or back it up to your computer as well as the cloud. Better safe than sorry!