How To Transfer An Android Phone To A New One?

[DallasSteve]

I have a nice Android phone, but I dropped it on the floor and now screen shows scrambled lines. I couldn't find any way to fix that so I bought a new Android phone and it is now working on the old phone number. Is there any way to copy the apps and files (photos, songs, etc) from the old phone to the new phone if I can't control the old phone from the screen? I can still turn on the old phone and it was actually receiving calls, but it was hard to answer with the unreadable screen.

Thanks, Steve

[magicbus]

Not to mention the OP can't use his old phone since the screen is shattered!

Dave

[babock]

wa8yxm wrote:
An additional note about how *I* move photos (Move the SD Card)

Customer came into phone store "My camera does not work"

They checked and found she was out of memory, no room for more photos.

She had an SD card installed (Additional memory) but it was EMPTY (I noticed it as the tech paged through on the phone)

So we told her hot to transfer to computer but the Tech also moved the photos to the hard card (SD Card) and re-set the camera to store there She has like 64Gig or storage now and only about 6 used.. I have more.

That's fine if the phone has an SD card. Most recent phones don't.

[wa8yxm]

An additional note about how *I* move photos (Move the SD Card)

Customer came into phone store "My camera does not work"

They checked and found she was out of memory, no room for more photos.

She had an SD card installed (Additional memory) but it was EMPTY (I noticed it as the tech paged through on the phone)

So we told her hot to transfer to computer but the Tech also moved the photos to the hard card (SD Card) and re-set the camera to store there She has like 64Gig or storage now and only about 6 used.. I have more.

[MrWizard]

babock wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
IF it turns on
try plugging into your PC with a usb cable

it 'might' show up under my pc, and you can navigate DCIM and copy all your picture files to the PC

Or do it the easy way and just let them upload to google Photos all the time so they are always backed up.

can't do that with the old damaged phone

good idea for the new phone

[Edd505]

Take it to your provider and have them do it.

[babock]

MrWizard wrote:
IF it turns on
try plugging into your PC with a usb cable

it 'might' show up under my pc, and you can navigate DCIM and copy all your picture files to the PC

Or do it the easy way and just let them upload to google Photos all the time so they are always backed up.

[MrWizard]

IF it turns on
try plugging into your PC with a usb cable

it 'might' show up under my pc, and you can navigate DCIM and copy all your picture files to the PC

[babock]

AsheGuy wrote:
A pure android phone has them installed when you get it. My current Nexus 5x did.

I have a Pixel 2 which is a pure Android phone. When the phone started up for the first time, it automatically started loading up my apps. Took awhile.

He says in his post that he has apps.

[AsheGuy]

babock wrote:
I have had 3 different Android phones. In all cases, the apps loaded themselves when logging into my Google account.

You had the apps installed on your previous phone though probably? I don't think the OP did.

A pure android phone has them installed when you get it. My current Nexus 5x did.

[babock]

I have had 3 different Android phones. In all cases, the apps loaded themselves when logging into my Google account.

[AsheGuy]

DallasSteve wrote:
I connected the new phone to my GMail account but that did not cause the phone to install the apps that were on my old phone.

Not going to happen, you have to install the apps you want.

DallasSteve wrote:
I also tried connecting my old phone to my PC but it never appears as a drive in Windows Explorer and there is no way to control my old phone from the damaged scrambled screen.

The default on my Nexus 5x android phone is to connect by USB cable in charge mode. You have to use the phone to select the file transfer mode to see it on the PC. This is ruled out for you as your screen is not viewable.

DallasSteve wrote:
Maybe I need to do something on the new phone so that it is is backed up on my Google Drive in case I have to change phones again.

This is the learning experience benefit of what you are going through. I don't know what kind of documents that you have on your phone to back up but I can list what apps I use and why:

• Gmail for email
  
• Google Contacts, phone contact database as well as visible in Gmail and in the Google Contacts app
  
• Google Photos, use auto backup so all photos are on cloud
  
• Google Drive, I use Google Docs and Google Sheets that ride on Google Drive for my documents and spreadsheets (compatible with Microsoft equivalents).
  
• Google Calendar
  
• Google Maps for alternative to my GPS
  

All of the above use Google Cloud so backup is automatic and all content of these apps is visible/editable on any other devices such as tablet, PC, phone.

And no, I am not a Google employee or do I own any stock in Google. To me this is the most integrated and usable set of apps available.

[DallasSteve]

I am using a no-contract provider named Net10 which I think uses the TracFone system. I connected the new phone to my GMail account but that did not cause the phone to install the apps that were on my old phone. I also tried connecting my old phone to my PC but it never appears as a drive in Windows Explorer and there is no way to control my old phone from the damaged scrambled screen. I guess I'll just have to install the missing apps and files manually. I didn't have a lot that I need to install, but it would be nice if it happened automatically. Maybe I need to do something on the new phone so that it is is backed up on my Google Drive in case I have to change phones again.

[AsheGuy]

One of the advantages of an Android phone is that IF you also use Google apps then everything (contacts, email, calendar, whatever) is on the cloud and synced to any other devices you also have. So, no data needs to be transferred to the new phone and you only have to log into the Google apps with your account info.

You don't mention your carrier or your old phone's brand, but either and/or both (unless the phone was pure android and unlocked) may have put apps on the phone that you were using instead of Google apps. In this case it depends on their backup options as to what transfer methods you have.

[KrowNB]

I just updated my Samsung phone a couple of says ago. Ran an app called Smart Switch on both. Chose the wIRELESS aoption for each, set new one to RECEIVE and old one to SEND. It conneced the two and then transferred everything I wanted it to, incuding data and music, photos, etc. I don't now if this app will work on non-Samsung devices, though.