If you often switch between Android and iOS, the two robust and most popular mobile phone systems, you've likely heard of the Move to iOS app. It is Apple's designed app to soothe the pain users face while moving to iPhone. Like its name, Move to iOS helps in moving contacts, photos, videos, message history, and more from an Android to a new iPhone.
Though it lets you transfer files efficiently, users have complained that they get stuck on the preparing process. The Move to iOS stuck on preparing error is a common problem. When you experience such an issue, no data will be transferred until you find the cause and eliminate it.
Fortunately, this guide provides solutions to this issue. So, if you are in the same situation, give this page a read and learn how to fix this problem.
Q1. How long does Move to iOS preparing take?
Move to iOS takes about 10-30 minutes to prepare for the transfer. But it depends on the data size being transferred. The more the files, the longer the transfer. Other factors may also affect the time taken to prepare the transfer. For instance, your network's bandwidth and how strong your Wi-Fi is. The exact time Move to iOS takes to prepare the transfer is unknown because it relies on several factors. If you have a lot of data to download or your Wi-Fi connection isn't reliable, the transfer process may take hours.
Q2. Is there a quick way to copy data between Android devices and iPhones?
No doubt the Move to iOS feature is useful. But you can get stuck when using it. In that case, you can use replacements to move your data between your phones. Maybe you can faster complete the data migration than using Move to iOS.
Q3. Why is Move to iOS taking forever to prepare?
In fact, Move to iOS gets stuck on the "Preparing" stage usually due to various reasons:
See more: 9 Powerful Apps to Transfer Data from Android to iPhone
There are various reasons you may encounter the Move to iOS preparing forever issue. Whatever the cause, you need to arm yourself with the fixes to troubleshoot the problem and have a successful transfer operation. Below are the most effective fixes:
To use the Move to iOS application, your Android should have Android version 4.0 and up, and an iPhone 5 or newer or an iOS running on iOS 9.0 and up, and it shouldn't have been set up. Compatibility problems may bring errors while the transfer process is underway.
If any of your phones aren't in the correct version's range, the Move to iOS application may run into issues. So, start by checking the version of your devices to make sure they are compatible with the app.
On Android devices, head to "Settings" > "About phone", and confirm your device's current version.
On iPhone, head to "Settings" and find "General". Then click on "About" to check the iPhone's version.
If needed, please choose "Software Upadate" to upgrade the OS on your phone. Then attempt the migration again.
Enabling Airplane mode is one of the basic fixes to Move to iOS taking forever to prepare. Restarting your connection may help resolve the issue at hand and enable the transfer to finish. It is advisable to turn on your device's Airplane Mode as it will help restrict your device from using cellular data or any networks in the vicinity that can interfere with the transfer.
On Android, swipe your finger on the phone's home screen from top to bottom to display "Notification Panel". Click on the "Airplane mode" icon to enable it.
On iOS, access "Control Center" to turn on "Airplane Mode".
Sharing files from Android to iOS needs a good network, and if your connection is bad, it will lead Move to iOS preparing forever. Since data transfer via Move to iOS requires a Wi-Fi connection, if your Wi-Fi keeps on disconnecting, data transfer won't be successful.
You should check if the connection is stable and strong. If not, change to another Wi-Fi and try moving your files again.
Learn more: When Move to iOS is stuck on 1 minute, you can repair it in these ways.
This is perhaps one of the first things to do when Move to iOS just says preparing. Surprisingly, it has been proven to fix software glitches on mobile phones, which could bring issues within the devices. Rebooting both Android and iPhone may clear the cache automatically, thereby preparing them for data transfer.
To restart Android, long-press the "Power" key and press the "Restart" option. Wait for a while for the phone to restart automatically.
To reboot the iPhone, switch it off and power it on manually to restart it.
After booting the devices successfully, see if the problem has been solved.
The Smart Network Switch feature was introduced on Android phones 4.3. It is an important function that helps give users an amazing experience by keeping robust network connectivity on their mobile phones when Wi-Fi is down. This feature helps to make sure there is a stable network connection during data transfer.
We know Move to iOS relies on Wi-Fi for data transfer. Therefore, if this feature is turned on and your Wi-Fi seems to be very slow, it means that the feature switches the connection to cellular data automatically. This may lead to issues with the Move to iOS application. To prevent your device from switching between networks during the transfer, you need to disable this feature on your Android.
Here is how to do that:
Step 1: Turn on "Mobile data" on your Android phone.
Step 2: Launch the "Settings" menu on Android, then find and click on the "Wi-Fi" option.
Step 3: Click on the "More" option or a related icon at the upper right corner and choose the "Smart Network Switch" option from the menu.
Step 4: Finally, switch off this feature.
When you move data from Android to iPhone is stuck on preparing, there is also a possibility that the apps operating in the background are the cause of this problem. Try turning off these apps and see if the app will operate smoothly.
Here's how:
Step 1: Head to the "Settings" application on Android, and then find and click on "Apps".
Step 2: Choose the application running on Android in the background, and click "Force stop".
Besides, to ensure the transfer is seamless, you can clear app caches. Please click "Storage" after choosing an app on your Android phone. Then tap "Clear cache".
By the way, iOS devices will remove cache data automatically so that you don't do it manually on your iPhone.
Read also: How Long Does Move to iOS Take? How to Fix It When It Takes Long?
If the Move to iOS stuck on preparing issues cannot be resolved with the methods provided here, you can opt for other data transfer options like the ones shown below, and achieve the data migration without Move to iOS.
You can copy your data from Android to iOS directly even though Move to iOS just says preparing on your iPhone, since Samsung Data Transfer can make it easier. This software supports most Android and iOS devices, like iPhone 15 Pro Max/15 Pro/15/14 Pro/14/13/12/11, Samsung Galaxy S23/S22/S21/S20, Google Pixel 7 Pro/7/6/5/4, HTC, OPPO, Sony, OnePlus, etc.
What's more, this software supports most generations of Android OSes and iOSes, from Android 4.0 and iOS 5.0 to the latest. Thus, you can use it on different phones. With it, you can move contacts, documents, calendars, notes, bookmarks, and more to your new iPhone via USB without a network.
- Copy data between Android and iOS in one click.
- Support file transfer from iPhone to iPhone and Android to Android.
- Swift and stable data transfer process.
- No data loss or ad when you use it.
Download this alternative to Move to iOS.
Step 1: Download the transfer software on your computer and run it. Enter the "Mobile Transfer" module from the "Toolbox" page.
Step 2: Connect both mobile devices to the computer through USB cables. Tap "Trust" on iPhone and ensure USB debugging is enabled on Android. The Android phone should be in the "Source" position. To change, just hit "Flip" on the screen.
Step 3: After ensuring the devices are correctly set, check the file contents you need to transfer. Once done, click on "Start Copy".
Google Drive is one of the most used cloud storage services for backing up data and sharing it across different or the same platforms. It can, therefore, be a viable option to transfer data from an Android to your new iPhone when the Move to iOS app is stuck on preparing. You can upload data like videos, audio files, documents, and images to Google Drive and access them on any device.
Step 1: Download the Google Drive app on Android and iPhone from Play Store and App Store, respectively.
Step 2: Open the app on an Android device, then create a Google account by entering your email address and password.
Step 3: After logging in, import videos, documents, photos, and audio you want to move to Google Drive. To do that, click the "+" icon and choose "Upload" option from the list of options. Select the files to copy to your Drive.
Step 4: When done with uploading, open the Google Drive app on your iPhone and sign into the same Gmail account you used on Android. Now check the files imported from the Android phone and download them.
There are quick fixes for the Move to iOS stuck on preparing problem. From giving your device a fresh start and checking the connectivity to closing any background apps, you have plenty of solutions to help in such a situation.
Additionally, we offered alternative ways to copy Android data to iPhone in case the problem isn't resolved. If you want a direct data transfer tool without cloud services, Samsung Data Transfer is an ideal option. Of course, you can also choose Google Drive to sync your data between devices. No matter what you choose, you can complete the data transfer without Move to iOS.
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Sophie Green, Chief Editor of Samsung-messages-backup website, has been focusing on the realm of Android Recovery, Android Transfer (Backup), Android Device Tips, Phone Clean, and Phone Transfer technologies. Recognized contributions on leading platforms attest to her esteemed expertise and reliability.
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