How to transfer contacts from Android to iPhone

Millions of Americans switch from an Android phone to an iPhone, or the other way around, at some point in their life. This, naturally, comes with an array of growing pains and inconveniences, as you have to teach yourself a whole new phone operating system and relearn countless shortcuts.

It also presents some practical difficulties. For example: How do you transfer your phone contacts? 

Thankfully, there are a few ways to do this. One of the easiest involves using your SIM card. In order to do this, save all of your contacts from the Android onto the SIM card. This can be complicated, so here is the step-by-step instructions:

• Go to the "contacts" app (it may also be "people), then settings.
• Select "import/export," then your SIM card, and follow the instructions from there. 

From there, transfer the SIM card into your iPhone. Using your iPhone, access the Settings, then go to Contacts. From there, select "Import SIM Contacts," and the process should start. Keep in mind that this may take some time, depending on the number of contacts you actually have. 

However, for some, the SIM can get annoying, or they may not have access to a working SIM. Depending on the age of your phone, it is also possible that your SIM card may not be compatible with your new iPhone. If that's the case, you have other options.

First, there are apps, and most specifically, the "Move to iOS" app. This is an App, from Apple, that is available in the Google Play store. As the name implies, it helps users move from Android to iPhone. You can download this free app and follow the instructions from there. It can help you move your contacts over to the iPhone, as well as any other content on your Android phone. 

There are other ways, too. For example, if you have a Google or Gmail account you can take advantage of it for the purposes of moving over your contacts. If your contacts are uploaded to your Google account, and synced up, you can then install your Google account onto your iPhone and sync them there. That will also result in you transferring your contacts. 

Additionally, you can export your contacts into a VCF file, then reupload them to your iPhone. This can also become somewhat complicated, so here is a step by step instruction guide:

• First, go to the Contacts or People app on your Android.
• Access the menu, select "import/export," and then "export to storage."
• This will create the VCF file that you can then email to yourself.
• Open the file on your iPhone. This should result in a new prompt: "Add all contacts." Select that, and you're done.

Transferring between an Android and an iPhone can unquestionably be a hassle. Thankfully, there are many ways to move your contacts over, and any of the above techniques should get the job done.