Apple believes it will capture a significant portion of the Android market share, particularly those who have switched over from iOS when Samsung, HTC and LG's phablet smartphones came out a few years ago. The iPhone maker is now helping Android defectors to come back to iOS by creating a comprehensive guide to help them move their files from Android to iOS.
With the new 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus bridging the two-year phablet gap between Apple and other smartphone manufacturers, Apple expects a lot of Android users to switch over to iOS 8, which comes out on Sept. 17.
Apple's guide "Move content from your Android phone to iPhone" teaches Android users how to move content, such as their contacts, email, photos, files and calendars from Google's operating system to iOS in a series of steps done on iTunes or a number of third-party apps.
To move email, contacts and calendar to iOS, users can simply add their email account to Apple's Mail app, or they can import content from a social networking website. Apple's Mail app supports all major email providers, including Gmail, Yahoo and Exchange. Apple also says users can also use a third-party app, such as Copy My Data and AT&T Mobile Transfer to move their mail files from Android.
"Many apps can even transfer your data over Wi-Fi," says Apple. "So you won't need to connect your phone to a computer."
For transferring photos, videos, books and music, Apple recommends connecting their Android phones to iTunes and using Android File Transfer to move the files to the computer. They can then disconnect the Android phone and connect their iPhone to iTunes and sync their files. For Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, Apple details the same process on iTunes and teaches users how to use iCloud to open these files as Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
While the process for transferring most files is easy, Apple is a bit more vague when it comes to moving users' apps, telling users that "you'll probably find the apps you're already using on the App Store." This basically means there is no way for users to transfer their apps to iOS; they have to download and install each app again.
On Sept. 15, Apple announced that it hit a record-breaking 4 million pre-order sales for its pair of new iPhones within their first 24 hours, doubling the pre-orders the company received for the iPhone 5 when it was launched in 2012. Supply for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus quickly diminished, with iPhone 6 pre-orders said to be delivered in seven to 10 business days and iPhone 6 Plus buyers getting their orders in three to four weeks.
