New Rules Force Apple to Make It Easier to Switch From iPhone to Android

iPhone 14 Pro - Pixel 7

New rules put in place by the European Union are forcing Apple, in order to be in compliance with the Digital Markets Act, to make it a bit easier for iPhone users to switch to non-iPhone devices (aka Android).

Changes such as this can take time to be implemented, and in the case of this new “user-friendly” way of transferring data between iPhones and Android, Apple’s own documentation says this won’t be available until the fall of 2025.

Apple plans to make further changes to its user data portability offering. Third parties offer migration solutions that help users transfer data between devices with different operating systems. To build on those options, Apple is developing a solution that helps mobile operating system providers develop more user-friendly solutions to transfer data from an iPhone to a non-Apple phone. Apple aims to make this solution available by fall 2025.

Like Apple says, third parties already have solutions on the market, such as Google’s own Switch to Android app for iOS. The issue is that this solution isn’t allowed to transfer all of an iPhone’s data, so the hope/belief is that Apple’s input could allow for a more thorough transfer of important data between operating systems.

I guess we’ll see way on down the road how this plays out. Fall 2025 is forever from now.

// The Verge