Move to iOS app makes transfer from Android to iPhone easier in iOS 9

Apple has quietly unveiled a new app which will make it much easier for Android smartphone users to switch to an iPhone and move all their contacts, message history, calendars and content with them.

Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference keynote was dominated by the Apple Music launch, Apple Pay coming to the UK and the launch of iOS 9.

iOS 9 has a slew of new features which were shown off on stage by Craig Federighi, Apple's head of software, but one of the updates to the mobile operating system was not revealed on stage, and sits quietly at the bottom of Apple's iOS 9 preview website.

Move to iOS is a new app which will launch alongside iOS 9 later this year and will make migrating all your details from your Android smartphone to your new iPhone a breeze.

Currently the process of moving across your details is a relatively painful one where you have to transfer each aspect (contacts, message history, photos etc) independently, using various apps and cloud services to sync the data.

Wirelessly switch

Apple's description of Move to iOS makes it sound pretty seamless:

Just download the Move to iOS app to wirelessly switch from your Android device to your new iOS device. It securely transfers your contacts, message history, camera photos and videos, web bookmarks, mail accounts, calendars, wallpaper, and DRM-free songs and books. And it will help you rebuild your app library, too. Any free apps you used — like Facebook and Twitter — are suggested for download from the App Store. And your paid apps are added to your iTunes Wish List.

Apple's iOS 9 preview page doesn't go much further into detail on how the app will work in terms of compatibility with versions of Android, if it will only work with iPhones running iOS 9, if it will work from an Android tablet to an iPad, if the user will need to download an app from Google's Play Store.

IBTimes UK has asked Apple for answers to these questions and we will update the article if/when we hear back.

While Android dominates the smartphone landscape with over 80% market share, Apple's iPhones are the dominant single model and with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus the company has seen a surge in sales for its bigger screen smartphones.

Until the launch of the latest iPhones, many users had been moving to Android due to the much larger screen sizes available from manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, Sony and LG.

Google has a dedicated Switch to Android website which details how easy it is to move your content from Apple services like iTunes to its platform. Individual manufacturers such as HTC and Samsung have their own device-specific systems of transferring content across from your iPhone or iPad - with Samsung even using Apple's own iCloud service to facilitate the move.