
Android Migration - taspeotis
http://www.apple.com/ios/ios9-preview/#android
======
pavlov
It seems a bit evil that Apple takes advantage of Android's open APIs to
provide this tool, yet it's not possible to write a tool to go the other way
because so much iOS user data is locked in by Apple.

(You can of course get some of this data from iOS, but things like preferences
and settings from the default applications just are not accessible.)

iOS, the "Hotel California" of mobile?

~~~
ignoramous
I think, if you look at it from the perspective of a user who wants to switch
from Android to iOS, this tool makes the job easier. And I wouldn't fault
Apple for making this transition smoother, they're being "customer-centric" in
my books. Is it not that you can take your data and move to any other platform
the entire selling point of Android and the openness?

I'd venture that Google's tightening its grip on Android and making it more
closed than it ever was. A high profile engineer, JBQ, quit AOSP project for a
reason. As an android user, one is already consuming a lot of Google resources
for free; and Google isn't going to sit back and not make you pay for it.

~~~
sangnoir
> I'd venture that Google's tightening its grip on Android and making it more
> closed than it ever was. A high profile engineer, JBQ, quit AOSP project for
> a reason

It might seem nit-picky, but that is so vague as to be untrue. The reason JBQ
quit, as I pieced together from his G+/tweets, was because of 3rd party
drivers for a Nexus device that were not released as open source as he would
have liked (he managed AOSP releases). Inferring from his posts at the time,
this was something he realised as a potential problem ahead of time and
notified legal, but it seemed nothing was done (or they failed in negotiating
with manufacturer).

I'm not a Googler, so I could also be off-base here. I apologise ahead of time
if I misrepresented anyone.

~~~
ignoramous
You're right. JBQ quit because of the reasons you mention. But he was tired of
AOSP in general and doubted the intentions of powers that be. Android was
notorious for its non-cooperation with the rest of Google (remember the
android browser vs chrome wars?), IIRC. Removal of Andy Rubin from the Android
division was a sign enough... Ever since Sundar Pichai has taken over, Google
has continued to close source a lot of code that was earlier part of AOSP.

[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/11/android-5-0-lollipop-...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/11/android-5-0-lollipop-
thoroughly-reviewed/#h1)

------
desdiv
"Android has many problems and is far from perfect, but we have never had to
put a wall up to keep our users in, to prevent them from leaving us."

~~~
MCRed
Neither has Apple. Remember it was Apple that forced the music industry to go
from DRM encumbered music to DRM free, etc. etc.

The Evil Apple mythology is pure political ideology on the part of Apple
haters / Google Zealots.

And I've been hearing this kind of Apple bashing since the 1980s.

Yes, yes, Apple sells more expensive stuff. Apple focuses on design. Apple
doesn't compete in the low end (though they are damn price competitive when
you compare like systems.)

This does not make Apple evil. The idea that Android is "open" simply because
linux is an open source operating system is silly- Darwin is open source as
well, and Apple and Google both keep the application layer closed source.

All those knockoff phones sold in China that you're desperate to count as
"Android" to claim Apple's losing (Yet nobody ever actually counts real sales
of android devices, because android phone makers keep this data secret, unlike
Apple that reports it quarterly to the SEC...why is that I wonder? Maybe the
illusion that Android is "winning" would be shattered, hmmm? Meanwhile only %8
of "android" devices are running a current operating system???!? How is that
"Winning"?)..... those knock off MediaTec phones are not "Android" and are not
running google Apps (unless they've been cracked) because google has just as
stringent licensing terms as Apple, actually much worse. And of course those
apps are not open source either.

~~~
ikt
> The idea that Android is "open" simply because linux is an open source
> operating system is silly- Darwin is open source as well, and Apple and
> Google both keep the application layer closed source.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_%28operating_system%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_%28operating_system%29)

"On July 25, 2006, the OpenDarwin team announced that the project was shutting
down, as they felt OpenDarwin had "become a mere hosting facility for Mac OS X
related projects," and that the efforts to create a standalone Darwin
operating system had failed. They also state: "Availability of sources,
interaction with Apple representatives, difficulty building and tracking
sources, and a lack of interest from the community have all contributed to
this."[24] "

Darwin is open source, but to compare that to linux is laughable. Google is
one of the top contributers upstream to Linux and subsequntly hundreds of
millions of devices are better off because of it.

I'm unaware of any modern darwin based distro's and I'm unaware of any iOS
mods like Cyanagenmod. To say Apple and Google are about the same when it
comes to Open Source is a joke. Based on Steve Jobs stopping all donations to
charity I'm fairly certain the fact that Darwin is open source is because the
licensing requires it to be. Otherwise Darwin would be proprietary so fast no
one would notice because it's too difficult to work with anyway.

~~~
comex
Most of the 'Darwin' open source releases on opensource.apple.com are not
under any variant of the GPL. However, they are only provided for OS X - the
iOS section only has a short list of LGPL projects, and ARM code is often
stripped out; new projects are never added, even rewrites of older code that
was open source (launchd, discoveryd); several projects cannot be compiled
without some work dealing with missing header files; and some projects (kernel
extensions) have over the years had entire files redacted to blankness, or
been removed from future distributions altogether. In other words, it very
much feels like a legacy thing.

------
kyriakos
This is actually an Android openness success story. Even if Android is not as
open as it should it still shows how much better it is in this subject.

~~~
MCRed
Oh really? I notice that you all are just assuming so.

Exactly what data are apps not able to reach on iOS that they are able to
reach on Android?

If Google cared about their customers they could write this kind of App as
well.

But google is not in the same business as Apple. Apple is making the best
platform they can. Google is in the business of commoditizing Apple's platform
so that google can sell ads on it.

Apple charges for its platform and protects customer data. Google gives the
platform away for free at the price of your immortal soul.

~~~
kyriakos
everyone is entitled to their own opinion

~~~
nindalf
The user you replied to certainly thinks so. He's posted variations of that
comment several times on this thread. It does not seem to be well received,
however.

~~~
threeseed
HN is a bit sad like that. Comments should be downvoted if they don't add
something to the discussion not if you disagree with the opinion.

~~~
yincrash
I suspect it is because he is being very repetitive (besides being
disparaging). Repetition does not add to the discussion.

------
raz32dust
Migrating data from an android phone to an iPhone might now be easier than
migrating from an android to another. I haven't come across any free, play
store app that can seamlessly transfer data between android phones of
different makes.

~~~
jon-wood
Motorola's devices all come with Motorola Migrate[1], which supports
transferring data from both Android, iOS, and some older devices. The times
I've used it I was pretty impressed by how smooth they made everything,
although I was going Android-Android, I don't know what caveats there are for
iOS migrations.

[https://www.motorola.com/us/motorola-migrate/motorola-
migrat...](https://www.motorola.com/us/motorola-migrate/motorola-migrate.html)

------
pornel
It looks like a better experience than moving to a new Android device.

Google only copies system settings and list of installed apps, but not "sd
card" data with local music, photos, apps' settings or data.

~~~
Nullabillity
You don't need to transfer photos, because they're automatically uploaded to
Google Photos ASAP.

You don't need to transfer music if you're using Google Play Music (including
the option to upload your own music), Spotify (has a similar options), or
something else like that.

I'll give you application settings, but that's only because the applications
didn't bother implementing the backup services.

~~~
mattlutze
Why on Earth should I have to use Google Photos or Google Play Music if I want
to move content to a new phone? That would be quite the definition of lock-in,
particularly when what we're talking about is moving non-system files.

~~~
bane
You can redownload your photos and music from both services. You aren't locked
in at all.

~~~
mattlutze
I'm curious how having to give the rights to my photographs over to Google to
be able to transfer them wouldn't be locking me into the Google ecosystem?

I get it's easier, but that's not the point here.

~~~
bane
How does it lock you into the Google ecosystem?

------
bane
The timing of this is pretty interesting. Apple's been able to make such a
tool for years, but the trend has clearly been iOS -> Android for a while. Now
that they're finally offering devices in sizes people want (literally 80% of
the new iPhones I see are the 6+), people who wanted the bigger devices but
went to Android, are finally seeing a reason to switch back. Furthermore, iOS
is finally in good shape compared to Android w/r to features like
notifications, multitasking, etc. making the idea of migration parity simpler.

I don't think this will have a huge impact in conversions, I think the path
Apple is on is already doing that, but it's not a terrible idea.

------
emirozer
Is there any reason for google to allow this in their play store ? Serious
question here, i cannot think of apple allowing the same kind of an app for
google in app store...

~~~
MCRed
You notice Google maps, that failure of an Application, is available on the
App Store, along with Google Now, Google Earth and lots of other apps from
Google.

The idea that Apple won't let google applications on their store is just
google zealot paranoid fantasy.

Hell, Apple's bringing Apple Music to android. It's treating it like a real
platform.

~~~
ikt
> You notice Google maps, that failure of an Application

"Google Maps for mobile is the world's most popular app for smartphones, with
over 54% of global smartphone owners using it at least once during the month
of August 2013.[3]"

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps)

I think your bias might be showing?

------
S4M
Seriously, it's a bit annoying to have so many news related to apple products
making it to the front page of HN today.

~~~
throwaway12309
Just avoid HN for a week or so while WWDC is on. It is always like this

~~~
girvo
And the same for BUILD and IO. Tech geeks get excited when tech companies
announce things, news at 11.

------
weavie
Is it really an amazing thing that you can recycle your Android device for
_free_? I wonder what they do with them..

~~~
ansible
A less wasteful solution is to completely wipe your phone and then sell it.
But cheap, used Android phones on the market is not congruent with Apple's
goals.

------
M8
It's funny how they are trying to suggest that getting same apps isn't going
to be a problem :).

~~~
minot
Yeah, it would be newsworthy if Apple stomached the cost of paid apps for
people who move from android to iOS.

I mean they'd only have to pay 0.7x the cost of the apps, if that.

> And your paid apps are added to your iTunes Wish List.

Oh how convenient!

I wonder if they will allow an app that lets people migrate from iOS to
something else on their app store. The reality distortion field at Cupertino
remains strong.

~~~
svarrall
I've always thought someone should do this. Would have though MS, BB or
Samsung would have more to gain than Apple, but the result would have to worth
the cost?

However my anecdotal evidence is that having paid for apps on one platform
isn't a barrier to switching for a lot of people. It seems to be an
afterthought, a realisation only when they come to download (and pay) for the
app again. By that point its too late.

~~~
MCRed
Plus nobody pays for Apps on other platforms. Developers who release on iOS
and android see 10-100 times the revenue on iOS. Partly this is piracy, but a
lot of it is culture.

More than that, even on iOS the paid App model is going away and free apps
with in-app-purchase or other premium models are what's succeeding. (not watch
this get downvoted.)

------
JimmaDaRustla
"Recycle your Android Phone"

Well, that's quite petty insinuating that the Android device is essentially
garbage.

------
ekianjo
What kind of ugly Android phone is used on the left?

~~~
MCRed
Isn't that an HTC One?

~~~
ekianjo
They probably chose it on purpose to make Android look dated. If they had used
a Samsung phone it would not have looked like a old chunk of metal.

------
harel
This is quite presumptuous of them. I find iOS a bit backwards and unintuitive
compare to Android, not to mention I find their practices the worst of all
evils (and I'm far from being an ideologist).

~~~
StavrosK
Me too, but I don't see this as presumptuous at all. They're trying to make it
easy for people who want to migrate from Android. Who can blame them?

~~~
ctolsen
Those who might want to migrate the other way, perhaps.

~~~
StavrosK
[https://twitter.com/Stavros/status/608215259153858560](https://twitter.com/Stavros/status/608215259153858560)

~~~
MCRed
That tweet is simply dishonest. Expecting Apple to make a migration assistant
to help people move off of its platform is absurd and hypocritical.

~~~
StavrosK
No, I want to make the migration assistant. How can I access on iOS the same
data that Move accesses on Android?

~~~
threeseed
Ask the user for their iCloud credentials. That would get you documents,
photos, mail, contacts, calendars, reminders, bookmarks, notes, passwords and
many app settings.

Then it should be just a matter of parsing a bunch of plist files and a few
SQLite databases.

