Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission; our scoring is independent of that.
Before you touch a cable, understand the constraint: on iOS, third-party apps cannot write SMS, call logs or app data into the system databases. So no Android-to-iPhone route — free or paid — can promise a byte-for-byte clone. What changes between tools is how much of the possible set they actually deliver.
What can cross, and what cannot
| Data | Android → iPhone | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | Yes | All routes |
| Calendar | Yes | All routes |
| Photos and videos | Yes | Camera roll; other folders partially |
| SMS and iMessage history | Yes, into a separate thread set | Move to iOS and some paid tools |
| Call logs | No | iOS has no import path |
| WhatsApp chats | Yes, via WhatsApp's own transfer | Not via the migration tool |
| Installed apps | No transfer — reinstalled from App Store | Paid apps must be re-bought if not cross-platform |
| App data / game saves | Rarely | Only apps with their own cloud sync |
| Local files in folders | Partially | Move to iOS skips them |
The realistic goal is: contacts, calendar, photos, SMS, and WhatsApp — with everything else rebuilt by hand.
Route 1: Move to iOS (free, one shot)
- Charge both phones above 50% and put them on the same Wi-Fi network. Move to iOS then creates its own temporary network, so a stable connection matters more than speed.
- On the iPhone, start setup. Stop at the "Apps & Data" screen and choose Move Data from Android.
- On the Android phone, install Move to iOS from Google Play and accept the terms.
- Enter the twelve-digit code shown on the iPhone. Wait — on a full phone this is 30 to 60 minutes, and the progress bar is unreliable near the end.
- Finish iPhone setup. Apps begin downloading in the background; free apps first, paid apps require your Apple Account.
The catch: Move to iOS only runs during setup. If the iPhone is already in use, you must erase it first. That is a real cost, so decide before you start using the new phone.
Route 2: A desktop tool (paid)
A desktop tool such as Coolmuster Mobile Transfer connects both phones by USB and copies selected categories directly. Its Android-to-iOS mode is documented as contacts and eBooks only, so it is a contacts fix, not a full migration. Wondershare MobileTrans documents the widest cross-platform coverage of the paid tools we scored, including photos, messages and WhatsApp.
Use this route when: the iPhone is already set up, or you need WhatsApp plus SMS without erasing anything.
Route 3: Google account sync for the boring parts
Contacts, calendar and mail already live in your Google account. Add that account to the iPhone and enable contact and calendar sync — done, free, no cable. This is the fastest route for contacts alone, and it survives a botched transfer.
WhatsApp is a separate job
WhatsApp ships its own migration feature that moves chat history between Android and iOS. It requires the same phone number, both devices on the same Wi-Fi, and a current app version. It does not need a paid tool, and using a third-party tool instead usually means restoring from a local backup database, which is more fragile.
Full instructions: moving WhatsApp chats between platforms.
The order that saves time
- Back up the Android phone (Google backup + a local photo copy).
- Export contacts to a vCard file as a safety net, even if you plan to sync.
- Do Move to iOS first if the iPhone is new; if it is not, skip to a desktop tool.
- Migrate WhatsApp last, after the iPhone is fully set up.
- Keep the Android phone switched on and offline for a week. It is your rollback.
Common failures
"Unable to find the iPhone" — usually a VPN or a Wi-Fi network with client isolation. Turn off the VPN, use a different network, or use a cable-based desktop tool instead.
Transfer stalls at "Importing photos" — the iPhone is re-encoding HEIC files. Give it twenty minutes before assuming failure.
Messages arrive without threads — Android SMS arrive as a block of messages, not a conversation. There is no fix; iOS does not merge imported SMS into conversation threads.
Contacts duplicated — you synced Google contacts and used a transfer tool. Delete the iPhone's contacts and re-sync from one source only.