Android

Can Android devices use iCloud?

As with most things, there’s not a simple “yes” or “no” answer here.

by
Joe Rice-Jones
May 28, 2020

Image: KnowTechie

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Whatever the reason you had for trading in your iPhone for an Android device, you might be wondering what to do with all the data stored in your iCloud account. I mean, that cloud storage account probably has the bulk of your digital life up to this point saved in it.

Everything from family photos, to calendar events tracking birthdays, to your contacts and more – it’s all saved in your iCloud, and safe in Apple’s “walled garden.”

Do you have to manually transfer it all? Can you leave it in iCloud and still access it from your new Android device? All good questions, and we’ll answer them for you right now.

So, can your Android devices use iCloud to keep everything synced up?

Simple answer: No

As with most things, the longer answer is more nuanced. While it’s true that there’s no iCloud app for Android, you can still access your saved data by going to iCloud on the web. You’ll be able to access your Photos right from the browser. You could also install Google Photos on your iPhone before making the switch, and then all your photos will automatically be available on your Android device once you sign in to your Google account on that device.

Google has made things substantially easier to make the switch nowadays, with all you need to transfer your whole iPhone (and iCloud) to your new Android being a cable to connect the two. Install Google Drive on your iPhone, back up everything to that, then everything from iCalendar to your Contacts and Photos will all be transferred to the corresponding Google apps. Nifty.

What do you think? Surprised that the answer isn’t a simple yes or no? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.