If you’ve just splashed a great new Android phone, you’ll want to get up and running as soon as possible. The good news is that it’s not hard to do – and we’ll guide you every step of the way.
From connecting your Google Account to your new phone, to making sure your handset is protected from unauthorized access, here we’ll cover everything you need to know about setting up a new Android phone. You’ll be ready in no time.
In this guide, we will take a look at setting up Android on a Motorola phone, which is close to the version offered by Google. Some steps and screens on phones from other manufacturers may differ slightly, but regardless of the brand and model of your handset, the procedure will be mostly the same.
Installation procedure
The first screen you see when you start your Android phone will ask you to select the language you want the operating system to use. Select a language, tap Startand you have entered the main setup process. You can bypass most of the following screens with Skip it button if you don’t want to deal with them right away.
The next screen will ask you to insert a SIM card if you haven’t already, and then you’ll be asked to select and connect to a Wi-Fi network – pretty important if you want to download apps, set up the internet, and update your operating system phone.
You will then be prompted to copy apps and data from another Android phone: you can sync Google Account details and installed apps from another phone you still have with you, via Wi-Fi, or you can restore your Android phone backup from Google Drive (under assuming you backed up your old phone in the cloud). We have gone into this part of the setup in more detail below.
If you prefer to start with a clean new phone, select Don’t copy. Your phone will ask you to sign in with a Google Account, which will allow you to access the Play Store and start automatic syncing with apps like Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Calendar, even if you didn’t copy the data in the previous step.
After signing in, Google will ask you if it can track your location, collect diagnostic information, and back up key phone data on Google Drive – this includes app, app data, call history, contacts, device settings (such as Wi-Fi passwords) ) and SMS history.
If you agree to this backup, it will make it easier for you to upgrade your phone the next time as you will be able to use it with the above mentioned restore feature. On this page, you can see all the devices you’re signed in to with your Google Account.
After that, it’s time to look back on security: you’ll be asked to set a PIN code to lock your screen, and you’ll also have the opportunity to set fingerprint recognition and face unlock if these features are offered on your particular Android phone. It is important that you have at least one of these security measures to protect unauthorized access to your handset.
After that, there are only a few households to take care of. The following screens let you set up Google Now, add an email account other than your main Gmail, change your system font or home screen background, and select additional Google apps (like Google Home and Google News) to install instantly.
You may see more screens from your Android phone manufacturer offering the opportunity to sign up for multiple accounts and apps. Then you are already in the Android operating system and you can start enjoying your phone.
It’s a fairly painless process, facilitated by the fact that Google apps and services mostly live in the cloud – no matter which device you sign in to, all your emails, contacts, calendars, photos, videos, and files are instantly available.
Upgrade from Android
Google has tried to make it as easy as possible to upgrade from one Android phone to another, using Google services and apps (including Google Drive, for example), by doing a lot of heavy background booting.
As we mentioned in the section above, during the setup process you will be given the opportunity to copy data and apps from your old Android phone. You don’t have to agree with that if you don’t want to transfer all the clutter and other apps from your rear handset, but this is the only chance you get – if you don’t copy files during setup, you’ll have to reset your phone to do so in the future.
If you agree, you can basically clone an old phone over a Wi-Fi network if you still have the old phone with you. You can also point the new device to an Android backup on Google Drive and get more or less the same result. In both cases, all the necessary instructions will be displayed on the screen.
For the Google Drive recovery option to work, you must first back up your old phone to Google Drive. It’s a good practice anyway and comes in really handy when you switch your phone. You’ll be prompted to back up your Google Drive whenever you set up a new Android phone, but you can do the same with System,, Advanced i Backup in the Android Settings menu.
Switching from iOS
The ease with which you can switch from an iPhone to a brand new Android phone really depends on several factors: how much you’ve already invested in the Google app ecosystem and how much Apple you want to transfer to your new Android headset.
If you already use apps like Gmail, Google Keep, Google Maps, Google Photos and Google Docs on your iPhone, then you can continue as before by signing in to these apps on your new Android phone. Apple Music also runs on Android, while Gmail can be set up to check Apple iCloud email addresses. You can notify Apple calendars and Apple contacts for use on Android.
Moving some parts of Apple’s ecosystem is less difficult. The best bet for moving photos and videos is to install Google Photos on your iPhone and sync everything to the cloud before switching to Android. Everything you’ve synced with iMessage will have to be lost unless you don’t have access to an iPad or Mac to continue watching your conversations from there.
Google Drive can move contacts, calendars, photos, and videos from iPhone to Android – Google has instructions here. While you can’t move absolutely everything from the iPhone, you can move around quite a bit – and if you’re already using Google apps on your Apple device, it’s even easier to make the switch.