Apple introduced last September a Move to iOS application to help Android users quickly switch to iPhone. The app ports contacts, photos and other personal documents from an Android device to an iPhone, and it has been quite popular, having more than one million installs according to Google’s Play Store statistics. But a new report says the company is working on a similar tool that would help iPhone users move their data to Android if they so desire.
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The news comes from The Telegraph, which learned from sources familiar with the matter that Apple is under pressure from carriers to make the switch between iPhone and Android easier, “amid mounting fears over its dominance.”
According to the news site, major European mobile operators are concerned that only a tiny fraction of customers ever move off the iPhone to an Android device, in part because of the technical difficulty of transferring data. The operators apparently feel that the lack of switching weakens their position in negotiating with Apple.
Apple’s iPhone contracts with carriers were under investigation in Europe, with a European Commission probing the matter in 2013. The EU sent out questionnaires seeking information about the iPhone contract terms Apple imposes carriers, but no operator spoke out, so the investigation was dropped.
Maybe these mobile operators aren’t aware that not only do various popular Android device makers have iPhone-to-Android apps and guides in place for consumers, but Google has guides for the same purpose on its Android site.
Even so, Apple apparently agreed to develop a simple tool that would help consumers transfer contacts, music and photos from an iPhone to an Android device.
It’s not clear when such an application will be released, if ever. After all, Apple’s interested in locking down as many iPhone customers as possible rather than making it easier for them to move to Android.
As for Android-to-iPhone switchers, Apple said that its iPhone 6s series of handsets have helped it convert record numbers of Android owners to iPhone.
UPDATE: In a statement to Buzzfeed, Apple has stated that there is “no truth to this rumor.”
