Moving to a new phone is always something to be excited about and switching from an Android device to an iPhone has become easier than ever, thanks to Apple’s Move to iOS app. But there’s only so much that can be transferred from your old phone to an iPhone and music is one of those things that might take more time than you’d expect to get it imported to your iPhone.
If you’re like us and you’re very particular about the songs you listen to, then it will be the first thing you would want to transfer from Android to iPhone. So can you bring your music with you when transitioning to an iPhone and how would you do it? That’s what we’re here to talk about in this post.
Related: How To Transfer Music From Windows to iPhone in 2021
Can I move music directly from Android to iPhone?
There are a few things you might like to know before transferring music from Android to iPhone but the one thing you might be curious about is whether you’ll be able to do it directly from Android to iPhone.
If you have audio files
It doesn’t matter how many music streaming options one might have, if you’re a high-quality audio junkie, then you would want all of your offline music collection to be moved to your new iPhone. Although possible, the process of transferring music from Android to iPhone is a convoluted affair.
We say this because you cannot transfer your music directly from Android to iPhone unless you want to rely on a third-party app/service to do it.
If you use Spotify, Apple Music, or other streaming services
In a world where streaming services dominate most of our content consumption, most of us rely on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and any other service for listening to music. If you’re someone who already pays for one or more of these subscription services, then transferring your music from Android to iOS is as easy as installing an app and logging in to your account.
That’s because all major streaming services can be installed directly on iOS and you can access all of your content by simply signing into your account. You can download the following streaming apps on your new iPhone and easily start playing your favorite genre right away:
What do you need?
If you have decided to go ahead and move all of your audio files from your Android device to an iPhone, then you should make sure you have the following items checked before moving on to the transfer process.
- A Mac or Windows computer
- USB-to-Lightning cable or USB-C to Lightning Cable [to connect Mac and iPhone]
- USB-A/USB-C to micro USB/USB-C cable, depending upon your Android, PC, and Mac’s port
- WiFi network [for iTunes Match and Feem v4 app]
Preliminary Steps
Since we have established that there isn’t an official way to set up a direct connection between an Android device and iPhone, you will have to suffice with connecting your Android device to your computer first and use it as the medium to transfer music to your iPhone.
Depending on which computer you own, you can choose either of the two methods mentioned here to copy your audio files from an Android smartphone to a Mac or Windows PC.
Method 1 – Transferring Music from Android to Mac
To transfer files from your Android device to a Mac, you need to install Android File Transfer on the latter by downloading it from the highlighted link and following the on-screen instructions.
After the Android File Transfer app has been installed, connect your Android phone to the Mac using the data cable that came with your Android. If you own a more recent MacBook, then you will need a USB-C to USB-A (or USB-C) adapter to connect your phone to the Mac or a USB-C to micro-USB/USB-C cable to connect both devices directly.
Mac will only be able to read the contents of your Android device if the latter is unlocked. To make sure, all of your Android files are visible on the Mac, unlock your phone.
After unlocking the Android, open the Notifications section by swiping down from the top of your phone’s screen. Here, tap on the notification that says something in the lines of “Tap for other USB options”.
This should show a new menu of options on your screen. In this list, tap on the ‘File transfer/Android Auto’ option to allow the Mac to read your Android device’s files.
Once a connection between your Android and Mac has been established, open Android File Transfer from the Mac’s Launchpad or Applications folder.
In most cases, the Android File Transfer app should appear on its own whenever you connect your Android device to a Mac.
You will now be able to see all of the files and folders that are available on your Android device. To copy your music, select the files or folders that contain audio files and drag them to the Apple Music/iTunes library on your Mac.
Your audio files will now be moved to the Mac so that you can later transfer them to your iPhone using one of the methods we have explained further.
Method 2 – Transferring Music from Android to Windows
Moving music from your Android phone to a Windows PC is much simpler than what you have to do on a Mac. You don’t need an app like Android File Transfer to read your Android’s storage and can access them directly by connecting your Android to a PC.
To get started, connect your Android phone to the Windows PC using a USB-A to USB-C/micro-USB cable that came with the device.
Once a connection has been established, unlock your Android, and go to the Notification drawer. You’ll see an Android System notification that tells you that you’ve connected the phone via a USB cable. Tap on ‘Tap for other USB options’ to choose from a list of connectivity options.
Select the ‘File transfer’ or ‘Transferring files’ option on this list to start transferring your music files. This will make sure that your Android’s local and SD storage are accessible on the Windows PC.
Open the File Explorer on your PC and check whether your Android device is available under ‘This PC’. Open your device by double-clicking on it.
When you open your Android device, you should see the ‘Phone’ storage and a ‘Card’ storage, if you installed an SD card into your phone. Open the storage you want to copy your music from.
Locate and copy the files and folders where you have audio files saved and copy them to a preferred location on your PC.
After transferring your music from Android to PC, you can eject it from Windows from the taskbar and then unplug it.
You can copy your music content from the folder you saved it onto the iTunes library for faster and a more organized transfer process. You can install the iTunes app for Windows by going to this link.
How to Transfer Music from Android to iPhone
Unless you want to rely on third-party software, it’s established now that you need a Mac or Windows PC to transfer music from Android to an iPhone. If you’ve already transferred audio files onto a Mac from your Android phone like we have explained to you in the aforementioned steps, then you can go ahead and move them to your iPhone using any of the following methods.
Using Finder app on Mac
So you have your music already copied onto a Mac but how will you move it to your iPhone? Enter the Music app (previously iTunes) on the Mac that can be used to duplicate your Mac’s music library to your iPhone.
To do this, connect your iPhone to the Mac using the USB-to-Lightning cable or USB-C to Lightning Cable. After that, launch the Finder app on the Mac.
Inside the Finder app, locate the iPhone that you connected to the Mac and click on it.
Additional step (for first-time users): If you’re connecting your iPhone to a Mac for the very first time, then you’ll be prompted with a dialog asking you whether you “Trust iPhone”. You will need to click on ‘Trust’ on your Mac.
In the next step, you will have to tap on the ‘Trust’ option on your iPhone when it prompts you with the “Trust This Computer” dialog.
You might be asked to enter your device passcode but in most cases, unlocking your iPhone would do.
When your iPhone is connected to the Mac, you will be able to see its device management screen inside Finder.
Automatic Sync
Inside the iPhone device management screen on Finder, select the ‘Music’ tab at the top.
Here, check the box labeled ‘Sync music onto iPhone’ to enable music sharing between iPhone and Mac.
If you wish to transfer all the music from your Mac, select the ‘Entire music library’ option under the ‘Sync’ section.
In case you don’t want all of your music to be copied onto your iPhone library but you only want to transfer certain songs from your Music library, you can opt for the ‘Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres’ option under the ‘Sync’ section.
You can then go ahead and start selecting the Artists, Albums, Genres, and Playlists by tick-marking them from the box below.
Once you have selected all the music that you wish to copy, click on the ‘Apply’ button at the bottom right corner.
Your music will now be transferred from your Mac to the iPhone and the process will be shown as ‘Syncing’ at the bottom of the Finder window.
Manual Sync
When you don’t want to automatically transfer music from your Mac to your iPhone, you can set up manual sync to have control over what gets copied onto your iPhone.
Before you start manually copying audio, you need to execute all the steps that you did before the ‘Automatic Sync’ process. When you do that, you’ll be inside your iPhone’s device management screen.
After you select your iPhone in Finder, click on the ‘General’ tab at the top and check the ‘Manually manage music, movies, and TV shows’ box.
Now, click on the ‘Apply’ button in the bottom right corner.
You can now, open the Music app on your Mac, where you previously copied music from Android.
You can sort through your music by clicking on ‘Artists’, ‘Album’, ‘Songs’, ‘Music Videos’, and ‘Recently Added’ under the ‘Library’ section from the left sidebar.
Select the songs you want to transfer to your iPhone. You can select multiple songs, and albums by pressing the Command key on your keyboard and selecting the music you wish to copy onto your iPhone.
Drag and drop the album or songs from ‘Library’ to your iPhone which will be listed under the ‘Devices’ section on the left sidebar inside the Music app.
After you drag all of your music to your iPhone, you can check whether everything has been transferred by clicking on your iPhone from the left sidebar inside the Music app.
All of your copied tracks will be visible inside your iPhone.
Using Airdrop between your Mac and iPhone
If you have already synced your music files to your Mac from an Android device, you can use this method to transfer them from your Mac to the iPhone.
Apple devices have been known to provide seamlessness when used with one another and the biggest beneficiaries of this are the Mac and iPhone. Not only can you receive your phone calls directly on a Mac but you can also copy stuff from a Mac to an iPhone or vice versa with ease and without needing cables of any sort. This is done using an age-old technique that many users would come to know as Airdrop.
Airdrop can be used to transfer any kind of files, including music between a Mac and an iPhone and is done using just your Bluetooth and WiFi connections. You can use Airdrop to transfer music from a Mac to an iPhone by following the guide we’ve prepared in the link below.
▶ How to Airdrop Between Mac and iPhone
Using iTunes on Windows
If you have copied audio files from your Android to a Windows PC as we explained in the Preliminary steps above, you can transfer your music to an iPhone from the PC using the iTunes app.
To do this, connect your iPhone to the Windows PC using the USB or USB-C cable that came with your phone. Once your device is connected, open the iTunes app on your PC and click on the Device button at the top left corner of the iTunes window.
Unlike on a Mac, you might only have installed the iTunes app on Windows for the sole purpose of transferring all of your music onto an iPhone. So, in the steps below, we’ll stick to transferring all of your music automatically.
To sync your music automatically, click on the Music tab from the left sidebar.
Check the ‘Sync Music’ box on the right pane.
You can transfer all of your music that you earlier copied to your iTunes library by checking the box adjacent to ‘Entire music library’.
Finally, click on the ‘Apply’ button on the bottom right corner to begin the transfer process.
Using iTunes Match
Apple offers a paid service by the name of iTunes Match which lets you transfer all of your songs and playlists to the iCloud Music Library for $25 yearly so that you can access them from anywhere. This way, you can store your whole music library (up to 100,000 songs) in MP3 and AAC formats, even those you imported from CDs.
To subscribe to iTunes Match, open the Apple Music app on your Mac or the iTunes app on Windows and click on the ‘iTunes Store’ (‘Store’ on Windows) from the left sidebar. Inside this screen, scroll down, locate and click on the ‘iTunes Match’ link under the ‘Features’ section.
The iTunes Match main page will load inside the window. Click on the Subscribe button on the screen. Sign in with your Apple ID and password and enter your billing details.
After your subscription has been activated, all of the songs in your iTunes library will be scanned and uploaded to the iCloud Music Library.
To make sure that all of the songs synced with iTunes Match shows up on your iPhone, you need to enable the Sync Library function inside iOS. To do this, open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Music. Inside the ‘Music’ screen, switch ON the ‘Sync Library’ toggle.
This should make all of your music appear on your new iPhone.
What else can you do?![]()
If none of the steps we mentioned in this post satisfies your needs or you want to do something more simple than the steps listed here, then there’s one more way to transfer music from Android to iPhone. If your music library isn’t that vast, you can simply opt for the following cloud storage options to upload your music content from one device to the cloud so that you can download it later on another.
Most of these cloud storage services offer free tiers that let you upload content to a certain limit which can be an excellent alternative to iTunes Match, in case you don’t want to pay for your music to get saved on the cloud. You can use multiple services in order to transfer all of your songs and playlists in batches you have a larger music library.
That’s all we have to help you transfer music from Android to iPhone. For more guides and explainers on iPhones, check out our dedicated iOS section.
RELATED
