Google Inc. has made it easier to switch from iOS to Android with a new tool that allows iPhone and iPad users to back up their data to Google Drive before making the move over to Android.

The Android Switch page describes how you can use Google Drive to backup your photos, videos, contacts and calendar entries from your iOS device. Here’s how:

How to move from iOS to Android

Before you start the backup to Google Drive you must be connected to a Wi-Fi network and power adapter.

If you do multiple backups, only new photos and videos will be backed up. While an additional backup will overwrite the previous backups of your contacts and calendar.

Items that won’t backup include photo albums, contacts and calendars from Facebook or Exchange.

Step 1: Download Google Drive

• Download and install the iOS Google Drive app from the App Store. If you already have Google Drive installed on your iPhone or iPad, make sure you update to the latest version.
• Open the Google Drive app and sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have a Google account, you can sign up for one here or when you sign into Google Drive.

Step 2: Backup your iOS content using the backup wizard

• Open the Google Drive app on your iPhone or iPad.
• Go to Menu > Settings > Backup.
• Either select the content that you want to backup (contacts, calendar events, photos and videos) or tap the “Start Backup” button in the bottom right corner to backup all your content.

Note: Connect to a Wi-Fi network and power as the backup can take several hours depending on the amount of photos and videos you have stored on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 3: Sign in on your Android device

• On your Android device sign into the same Google account that you used during the backup of your iOS device.

Tip: Make sure you turn off iMessage on your iPhone: Go to Settings > Messages > toggle iMessage to Off. In Settings > FaceTime > toggle FaceTime to Off.

All your content from your iOS device will now be available on your Android device.

• Photos and videos will be in the Google Photos app. Photos will back up in their original quality, but if storage space runs out the remaining photos are backed up in high quality.
• Calendar events from your iOS device, located in the Google Calendar app, are added to a new calendar named after your device.
• You will be able to see your contacts on your Android device after you turn on Google Contact sync on your iOS device. Open the Settings app > Contacts > Accounts > Add Account > Google > enter your login details > tap Next > switch “Contacts” on > tap Save. To start the sync process, open the Contacts app.

Tip: Before you tap “Save” a pop-up may request whether you want to keep or delete the contacts on your device before you start the sync process.  

Source: Google support

Image via Google