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How to switch from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S8

How to switch from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S8

Switching from Apple’s iPhone to Android’s Galaxy S8? As long as you cut the iMessage cord, the process of switching over is easier than you think. Here’s how to make the transfer yourself and avoid waiting in a store.

If the Infinity Displays on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have you itching to jump off the iOS bandwagon, you aren't alone. I just made the switch from an iPhone 6 to the Galaxy S8 and it turns out it's easier than ever to switch from iOS to Android. But here are a few things you need to know before you start using your Galaxy S8.

Disable iMessage

Before you do anything, you need to deregister your phone number from iMessage. This is the most important step if you're switching from iOS to Android. If you forget to disable or deregister your number from Apple's servers, every other iPhone will still think you have an iPhone. When your friends with iOS send an iMessage, you'll never see it.

Head into your iMessage settings on every iOS or MacOS device you own -- it will need to be disabled on every Apple device registered to your iCloud account. On a Mac, head into Messages -> settings. Remove your phone number and uncheck "enable this account."

To disable iMessage on your iPad, head into settings -> messages and toggle the switch off next to "iMessage."

To disable iMessage on your iPhone, head into settings -> messages and remove your phone number from the Send & Receive field. Finally, at the top of the iMessage settings, toggle the switch from on to off.

If you find you're still missing messages from other iOS users on your Android device, you can deregister your phone number through Apple's website.

[ Related story: 5 underrated features of the Samsung Galaxy S8 ]

Samsung Smart Switch

The Samsung Galaxy S8 comes preloaded with software to help make the transition as easy as possible. Navigate to the Samsung Smart Switch application to get started. It comes pre-loaded on every Galaxy S8 device. If you have an older Galaxy device that didn't come preloaded with the Smart Switch app, you can download the app in the Samsung App Store.

Smart Switch can run in the background while you set up your phone. after you select the data you want to port over, it will give you an estimated time until it's finished.

USB cable sync

The easiest way to copy your iPhone data to your Galaxy S8 is using a USB cable. The Galaxy S8 ships with a USB Type A to C adapter, so you can use your iPhone cable to transfer data directly to the S8. Plug the Lightning cable into your iPhone and, using the USB Type-C converter, plug the other end into your Galaxy S8.

A notice will pop up on your iPhone asking if you "trust" the device -- select "trust" to continue. If you backup your iPhone in iTunes with encryption, you'll need to turn it off to complete the data transfer. To do this, plug your iPhone into your notebook or wherever keep your iTunes backups. Turn off encryption and wait for a new iPhone backup to finish. Once it's done, plug the iPhone back into the Galaxy S8.

When prompted in the Smart Switch app, choose USB as your data transfer method. Depending on how much data you have on your iPhone, the process can take up to 15 minutes. My 64GB iPhone 6 was nearly full and the process took about 10 minutes.

After the S8 finishes searching your iPhone for data, you can choose to transfer apps, messages, documents, memos, calendars, contacts, videos, pictures, paid music, alarm settings, bookmarks, call logs and Wi-Fi Profiles. The app will let you know once it's safe to disconnect your USB cord and it will finish the process in the background.

With some apps, you might find they aren't available in Android format, although this is far less of a problem now than in the past. Most apps are on both platforms now, but you may run into a few that won't cross the OS divide.

[ Related story: Samsung targets the enterprise with Galaxy S8 and S8+ ]

iCloud Sync

Smart Switch supports iCloud backups with iOS 9 or later, which is an easy choice if you regularly back your iPhone up to iCloud or can't find a USB cable. You can transfer all the same data as in the previous method, including contacts, calendars, photos and videos.

Open the Samsung Smart Switch app and choose "Wireless" when prompted. Choose iOS from the menu that pops up, enter your Apple ID and iCloud password used on the device you're transferring data from.

Select which content you want to transfer over. Options include apps, messages, documents, memos, calendars, contacts, videos, pictures, paid music, alarm settings, bookmarks, call logs and Wi-Fi Profiles.

Choose "start" to begin the process and wait until it finishes transferring data completely before using either device. Just as in the last method, the length of the process will depend on how much data you have backed up. Also, some apps might not have an Android counterpart, but again, you won't find this to be an issue in most cases.

Now that your data is ported over, you can go about using your new Samsung Galaxy S8.

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