From IOS to Android: How to preserve your digital life and digital history?

[gdourado]

Hello,
How are you?
Due to the non resolve of the Gyro issue with the 5s, I am seriously thinking about leaving my iPhone 5 and go for an Android phone. Either an LG G2 or a Nexus 5.
The thing is that I have had my iPhone for a year and have a lot of stuff there.
Some of that stuff is important to me and I would like to preserve and keep on Android.

In search for help, I started a thread on XDA. This is it:

Hello,
I have been using an iPhone 5 for the last year. I have enjoyed the phone but now I think I am ready to return to a Nexus.
I say return because before the iPhone I had a Galaxy Nexus.
I was set on swapping my iPhone 5 for a 5s, but the sensors issue has placed my purchase of the iPhone on hold and during this time I have became increasingly excited with the Nexus 5.
Since I have been using the iPhone for so long, I have a ton of stuff that I need to move to the Nexus 5, and this is why I am writing this post.
Since you all here know much more about android than I do, I am hoping for some guidance on my doubts about migrating from the iPhone to the Nexus.
Here is what I need. Can you please tell me if it is possible and how to do it?

Photos and videos - I have more than 2000 pictures on the iPhone camera roll and 30 videos I took over this past year.
They are stored in the camera roll. No albums and no folders. They are sorted by date taken and are all geo-tagged.
I would need the same on the nexus. All this directly in the camera roll and the geo-tagged preserved. New pictures taken with the nexus would add to these ones. Say if my last image is IMG_2000.jpg, the first taken with the Nexus should be IMG_2001.jpg

Call Log - For work related reasons, I would need to preserve my call log on the nexus and have the calls on the nexus add to the existing log.

SMS Messages - The same. I would need to import all my threaded messages from the iPhone to the Nexus and have them associated with the same contacts so that they would proceed from there.

Contacts and calendar - I Have it on iCloud. I guess I would have to export from iCloud to Google and then sync Google with the Nexus.

Mail - I have a gmail account. No problems there. I also have an iCloud account. They are both synced to the IOS mail app at the same time.
Can I sync both accounts to the NExus gmail app?

Whatsapp - I need to have the chats from whatsapp. Maybe export them from IOS and Import them to Android?

Real Racing 3 - I have quite a good career on RR3. Can I back it up and restore it to Android?

Angry Birds Star wars - Same. Have completed all levels and am 3 starring them. WOuld like to continue on the nexus and not have to start over.

That is it basically. If I was to get an iPhone 5s, I would use iTunes to backup my 5, and then restore to the 5s and would have all I stated above on the new phone.

Can I do it from the iPhone to Nexus?
I would really like to try a Nexus, but I am so deep with the iPhone after a year that if I can't move some stuff, it will be a deal breaker unfortunately.

Hope you can help me out.
Thank you.
Regards!

After some answers and me doing some research, I came to this:

Hi,

Thank you all for taking the time to post your thoughts and comments.
Based on what you said, I did some research online and came to the following conclusions:

- It seems that there are software apps than can read into a full iTunes iPhone backup and extract some information.
With that kind of software, I can access the SMS messages and call logs and then transfer them to Android.
So, SMS and Call Log seems to be a non issue.

- Photos are also a non issue. With something like iFunbox I can extract all the original jPegs from the iPhone and then just copy them to the images folder on Android. Geo Tag is embedded on the file and so is date taken, so sorting them won't be an issue The same happens with the video files.

- Whatsapp chats can also be extracted from the iTunes backup. Then, they can be copied to android and once I install Whatsapp on Android, it seems I can restore from that backup file.

- Real Racing 3 on IOS has cloud save and restore feature. I will have to look into if they can be saved on IOS and restored on Android. That would be sweet.

- Contacts and Calendar. On the Mac, I can export this info in CSV and then import it to google. I will then have my contacts on Google contacts and my calendar on google Calendar. Then, Google Calendar and contacts can be synced to the Mac and iPad with no issues.

- The other games seem like they will be lost. But if it is just my progress on Angry Birds and cut the rope, no big deal... Although I might try to extract the App data from the iTunes backup and see if anything can be done with it.

So far it is looking good. Has anyone already tried any of these methods with success?

Cheers!

In regard to this matter, can you also help me out here?
Am I thinking straight on this and can it be done as I said on my second post?
Did you have any similar experience? What were your results?

Thanks.
Cheers!

 

[IFRIT]

Is it really worth leaing an eco system you're otherwise happy with because of something that will probably get fixed via software at sometimes?

 

[gdourado]

Is it really worth leaing an eco system you're otherwise happy with because of something that will probably get fixed via software at sometimes?

Hi.
It is not just the Gyro issues.
This weekend I was at a store and played for some time with a LG G2. That screen is just gorgeous! I placed my iPhone 5 side by side with the G2 and the screen makes such an incredible difference.

If I can keep the data that is important to me, I might give android another shot. The hardware on the "dark side" is appealing.

Cheers!

 

[gdourado]

Just a small update.
Seems Real Racing 3 cloud saving feature is cross-platform.
So RR3 is also checked off my list.

https://getsatisfaction.com/firemonkeys/topics/modify_save_data_does_not_exist_in_real_racing_3_settings_menu

The Cloud Save feature can also transfer your progress from one device to another if you are signed in to either Facebook or Game Center. This feature is also cross-platform compatible! You can now enjoy playing the same game progress on iOS, Android and Amazon devices.

Cheers!

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

The Samsung Switch app is very good if you are moving from an iOS device to a Samsung device. Not sure whether or not this works with any Android device but for Sammy stuff its free any and very painless.