<img class="size-medium wp-image-132 alignleft" title="ios-android" src="http://www.androidwidgets.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ios-android-300x155.jpg" alt="ios-android" width="300" height="155" />Do you own an iPhone and want to do a switch to Android but don’t know where to begin? Well, then why to worry, we have made this blog for this very purpose- to help you in anything and everything related to Android.

Before making the transition let us take a look at the steps you will want to take before making the switch:
1st suggestion: If you don’t use Gmail then it is a good time to start using it. Though not all features of Android are dependent on Gmail like Exchange but there are plenty of features which require you default email client to be Gmail. A Google account is required from the start of using an Android device, as soon as you start the set up you will be required to input a Google account with which your smartphone will be synced. A few features which are synced are Google calendar and contact list. As Android is a product of Google it is obvious that they will allow only a Gmail account.

In this tutorial we will consider that you have:
<ul>
	<li>Intalled iTunes on your iPhone which is synced</li>
	<li>You have the laptop or desktop you use for sync</li>
	<li>Computer has a minimum of Windows XP operating system</li>
	<li>You know how to access the files on the micro-SD card of your Android smartphone.</li>
</ul>
So after checking the above requirements let’s get started:
<strong>Contacts</strong>
Let’s begin by moving the contact information from your iPhone to your Gmail account. Please note that only the following information will move over:
<ul>
	<li>Contact name and job designation</li>
	<li>Company names</li>
	<li>Email and postal addresses</li>
	<li>Phone numbers</li>
	<li>IM names, including the type of service</li>
	<li>Notes</li>
</ul>
Now the actual instructions are too simple which have been provided by Google itself:
<ol>
	<li>Connect you iPhone to your computer through a USB cable</li>
	<li>Launch iTunes application</li>
	<li>Click on iPhone and to go the Info tab</li>
	<li>Check “Sync Address book contacts” option and in the drop down select Google contacts</li>
	<li>Click on configure and login to your Google account</li>
</ol>
This step will sync all your iPhone contacts to your Google account which will be downloaded to your Android phone during the set up time.

<strong>SMS</strong>
This method is not free of cost. As Apple has never been big hearted regarding access to its file structure therefore we need to rely on some third party apps which ask for a price. You first need to download software from here for free. Now launch iTunes here and buy and download Export SMS to your iPhone and get started. Be sure that you export the messages in text format.

Once the text file has been moved, take your Android phone which has the initial set up done and move the file in to the root of the SD card of the phone. Now go to Android market and download “SMS Migrator” for $2.20. Make sure that USB storage on your Android phone (in top of screen when the phone is plugged into the computer) is disabled and then run the SMS Migrator and navigate to the text file and select it. The app will do the rest.

<strong>Email, Exchange and calendars</strong>
While Android does not support Exchange as nicely as iOS but it still does a good job to get the data from sync. There is nothing more to be done in this step than opening email set up on Android and setting up your Exchange account. This step excludes calendar and only switches emails. For this you have to sync your Exchange account with Google calendar. However, for HTC owners having HTC Sense on the smartphone you will need a third party application for your computer which will connect Outlook with Exchange. Find the instructions for doing this here

<strong>Rest of the things</strong>
As all of the rest data like videos, photos and music are stored locally on devices it is simple to transfer them using a SD card or a computer for direct transfer from one device to another.

<strong>Getting used to the switch</strong>
Guys, please note that switching from iOS device to Android has a lot of new things to learn. While now we have a complete touchscreen supportive Android in the form of version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but many of you will still have or will get the older versions so it is important that you keep your patience for sometime because for me it took almost a week to get completely over my habits on iPhone.
Some of things will take time getting used to are:
<ul>
	<li>Your home screen is no longer just a place for shortcut to apps</li>
	<li>All of your things on Android lie in the pull up menu</li>
	<li>Widgets which you like and would prefer to place them in your homescreen.</li>
	<li>Notification menu at the top of screen.</li>
	<li>Handling of music: In Android unlike iPhone, music handled manually. There is no protection problem related to legitimate buying of music and all you need to do is transfer the audio on the internal or external memory and choose the player (yes, you choose your music player) which will create a Metadata of all your music files in format of Artist, album, song name, etc.</li>
	<li>Instead of iTunes now you will have to download the apps from Android market. The only difference between the two except the name is the a little difference while check out you use Google check out service.</li>
</ul>
I hope these tips you help in making this migration with as much ease as possible. Be sure to go through the guidelines mentioned properly before venturing from iOS to Android.