Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
Late last year, Google and Apple teamed up to make switching between Android phones and iPhones more seamless. Google shared a glimpse of these changes at I/O 2026, but the results of this collaboration are now (almost) here: Android 17 introduces a new iOS-to-Android switching experience via Android Switch.
Android’s Product Lead for Onboarding, Settings, and Switching, Mr. Paul Dunlop, has shared on X that Google is launching a new version of Android Switch that brings a “ground-up new iOS to Android switching experience for Android 17.”
Starting off, you no longer need to download any standalone apps or grant complex permissions. The new Android Switch experience is built directly into the core of both Android and iOS, so the whole setup automatically becomes more beginner-friendly.
Further, Android Switch is now wireless-first. This is a big change from the previous experience, where you needed a wired connection to transfer a lot of key information, such as text messages and device settings. The app still fully supports wired transfer, but most users will find wireless transfer much more convenient (and eliminates the risk of a device running out of battery due to an occupied USB port — been there too many times).
Android Switch now also supports migrating passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi credentials, and alarms. Yes, none of these would have transferred previously if you switched from an iPhone to an Android phone.
Another win is that the new migration experience also brings over your wallpaper, home screen layouts, and app placements, though Google mentions that this will happen in “just a few taps.” We’ll have to see what the process looks like, but it is a big upgrade from the previous experience, where none of these migrated at all. Google is also promising to migrate key accessibility settings to your Android phone.
Other data types that are now supported are:
Google says that the data types that were already supported have also received improvements across the board. SMS, MMS, RCS, and iMessage conversations and group chats now migrate with reactions, stickers, and threads.
There are two more upgrades left. The new Android Switch experience also automatically migrates your Google Account from your iPhone to your new Android device, so you don’t have to worry about passwords.
Similarly, your eSIM is migrated during the initial setup, so you don’t need to take any manual steps to set it up. Google notes that it is actively expanding this support to more carriers globally, so you may still have to do things the old-fashioned way if your carrier isn’t supported yet.
One of the big surprises is that Google and Apple have worked closely to develop new APIs that allow developers to integrate cross-platform migration. This means that if the developer enables it, your installed apps will migrate over with your in-app data! This is a huge upgrade from the current experience, where the apps are merely reinstalled with a blank slate, leaving you scrambling to set everything up again.
Mr. Dunlop notes that the rollout is starting today across a small percentage of Android 17 devices. This will expand over the coming weeks and months. Android 17 stable is currently available on the Pixel 6 and later devices. It remains to be seen whether the same experience will extend to skins from Android partner brands as well.
There’s no word on which iOS version you need on your older iPhone for the updated experience to take effect. iOS 27 will be available to users in the stable branch sometime in September (based on historical timelines), while the current stable release is iOS 26.5.1. Since Google’s experience is said to be live today, one can presume it is available on iOS 26.5.1, and not the developer preview builds of iOS 27.
Did you receive the new Android Switch experience? Let us know your experience in the comments below!
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