It’s happening.
Maybe you’re an early adopter, eyeing the latest model. Perhaps you’ve cracked your phone’s screen or accidentally dropped your phone into water. Or you find yourself without enough storage – you’ve added 1 app too many, 1 photo too many, or 1 movie too many.
Whatever your reasoning, it’s time to shop for a new phone. Some preparation beforehand can make upgrading to a new phone a painless transition.
Backup
You haven’t been backing up? Then do this first. Do this now—before that screen cracks or your phone drowns or your heart anchors on the latest model. You’ll have a much easier transition to a new phone if you’ve used available tools to preserve your phone content and settings.
Phone-specific tools
Luckily, a combination of platform-specific tools and third-party apps can help. iPhone and Pixel phones both have computer and cloud storage options for backups. For example, not only can you back up the settings and data on your iPhone, you can preserve passwords if you opt to run an encrypted backup. Then, your data will be ready for transfer once you receive your new phone.
Third-party backup tools
You can also take advantage of third-party apps. SMS Backup & Restore is one option to regularly backup your Android phone. Wireless service providers can assist you, too. For example, AT&T Mobile Transfer lets you to transfer contacts, photos, videos, music, messages, and other content to many of the newest phones.
Third-party apps and subscription services
You’ll need to check each of your third-party apps such as games, health trackers, or subscription services—like Netflix or YouTube Red—for their policies on backing up high scoring games or playlists. Although many apps keep your account settings in the cloud, not all do. Also, you’ll need to sign out of many subscription apps on your old phone before you can to use those apps on your new upgraded phone.
Switching platforms
As you might expect, if you’re moving from one platform to the other transferring your info can be harder. Both iOS and Android have guides to help you switch, but you’ll need to watch for some items that won’t transfer when you upgrade to a new phone.
Your old phone
Now that you’ve backed up your data and installed it on your new phone, what’s left? You’ve some options for your old phone. But first, you’ll need to factory reset your old one. Delete any cloud storage accounts from your old phone. Then, restore the factory settings. For example:
- Select Settings, then System, and then Reset for Android phones
- Select Settings, then General, and then Reset for iPhones
Once you’ve reset your old phone, you can opt to donate it, sell it, or take advantage of a phone trade-in deal with your wireless carrier.
Now that you are prepped and ready to upgrade your phone: get additional support and ask questions about completing your device upgrade in the AT&T Support Forums.
This article is AT&T sponsored content written by Leslie Stewart, a TechBuzz contributor and AT&T employee. The statements in this article are his own and don’t necessarily represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of AT&T.
