How to transfer data from your old phone to your new Xiaomi

Buying a new Xiaomi smartphone is always an exciting event, but it can cloud the prospect of a long and tedious setup. Many users put off buying a flagship precisely for fear of losing important contacts, correspondence or getting entangled in a hundred applications that need to be re-downloaded and authorized. Fortunately, the MIUI and HyperOS ecosystem offers powerful built-in tools that allow you to clone the contents of an old gadget in minutes.

The process of migrating data has become much easier in recent years, from a complex technical procedure to an automated algorithm that is accessible to everyone. You don't need to be a programmer or have a deep knowledge of the Android architecture to successfully complete the transfer, the main thing is to understand the logic of the system utilities and properly prepare both devices for synchronization.

In this article, we will take a look at all the available ways, from the branded Mi Mover app to Google cloud services and manual copying. We will look at the nuances of the transition from iOS and older versions of Android, and also pay attention to the security of your personal files.

Preparation of devices and backup

Before you start active, you need to do a lot of preparation, which is a critical step that is often ignored, which leads to a midway interruption, and make sure that both smartphones are charged at least 60-70%, as transferring large amounts of data over Wi-Fi Direct can significantly consume battery power.

Also check for space. The amount of memory available on the new Xiaomi should exceed the amount of data planned for transfer. If you move from a 128 GB device to a 64 GB model, you will have to manually sort files by deleting the extra.

• 🔋 Charge both smartphones to levels above 60% or connect them to a power source.
• 📶 Make sure that both devices have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled.
• 🧹 Clean up the cache of junk apps on your old phone so you don’t carry the digital junk.
• 🔒 Unlock the screens of both devices and allow geolocation access if required.

Make sure your old phone has the latest contacts and calendar sync. Go to Settings → Accounts & Sync → Google and click the Forced Update button to create a backup of your most important data in the cloud.

⚠️ Note: Do not try to port data if the old phone has custom firmware or superuser (Root) rights installed.This can cause conflicts when installing system applications on the new Xiaomi.

Using the Mi Mover app for quick migration

The most efficient and quickest way is to use the Mi Mover app, which is pre-installed on all modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones. If you have Android on your old device, you will need to download this tool from Google Play or GetApps. There is also an App Store version for iPhone users.

Run the app on both devices. On the new phone, select I'm a recipient and on the old phone, I'm a sender. The system will suggest creating a Wi-Fi hotspot: the new phone will generate a new one. QR-A code or password that you will need to enter or scan on an old gadget.

Once you connect the devices, you'll see a list of data categories to migrate, and Mi Mover's algorithm allows you to flexibly customize the sample, and you can only migrate system settings and contacts, or copy the entire array of media and applications.

• 📱 System data: Wi-Fi settings, alarm clocks, notes, voice recorder.
• 👥 Contacts and Messages: The Whole Phone Book and History SMS/MMS correspondence.
• 📸 Multimedia: Photos, Videos, Music and Documents from Internal Memory.
• 📲 Annexes: installation files APK and, in some cases, application data.

It's important to understand that porting apps from iOS to Android is limited, you can only transfer photos, videos and contacts, and you will have to install the apps again from Google Play, since the APK architecture is incompatible with Apple's IPA files.

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If the process is stuck in the Connection stage, try to turn off mobile internet (4G/5G) on both devices, leaving only the Wi-Fi module.

Transferring data from iPhone to Xiaomi

The transition from the Apple ecosystem to Xiaomi has become much more comfortable thanks to improved support for transmission protocols, and Mi Mover is also the main tool here, but there are important nuances that you should know about in advance, the process requires installing an application on your iPhone and carefully following the sequence of actions.

On an iPhone, when you first run, Mi Mover will request access to contacts, calendar and photos, and you have to resolve all requests, otherwise the data will not be found by the system. QR-The code that appears on the screen Xiaomi, will begin the analysis of data.

Media portability is particularly important, as if you have HEIC or ProRes photos and videos in your iOS library, they can be automatically converted to a compatible JPEG or H.264 during transfer, which will take extra time.

After copying on Xiaomi, you need to manually go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to application data and check the permissions for installed social networks and instant messengers, as in MIUI they can be limited by default.

Alternative ways: Google Account and Cloud

If a direct connection is not possible or is unstable for some reason, classic synchronization through a Google account comes to the rescue, a method ideal for restoring the basic structure of a smartphone: contacts, calendar events and a list of installed apps.

When you first set up a new Xiaomi, the system will prompt you to log in to an existing Google account. Once you log in, you will be able to restore a backup created on the old device. To do this, you had to enable sync on the old phone in advance in the Settings → Google → Backup.

Google Photos is a special service, and if you have Autoboot and Sync enabled, all your photos and videos are already in the cloud. You just need to install the Google Photos app on your new phone and log in to your account, and the entire library will be automatically tightened up, taking up minimal space on the device thanks to the Save Space feature.

• 🌐 Universality: The method works between any Android version and even the iPhone (via the Google app).
• 🛡️ Security: Data is stored on Google servers and will not be lost if your old phone is physically broken.
• ⚙️ Automation: applications will install themselves in the background, their icons will appear on the desktop.

⚠️ Note: Google's backup doesn't save passwords from Wi-Fi networks and alarm settings as securely as a direct transfer via Mi Mover.

Transfer of WhatsApp and Viber correspondence

The most painful question when changing phones is the history of messaging. Standard file copying methods often do not affect the WhatsApp and Viber databases because of their encryption, and you need to use built-in backup functions of the applications themselves.

For WhatsApp on Android, the process is as follows: on an old phone, open Settings → Chats → Backup Chats. Click Backup and make sure it is done in Google Drive. When you install WhatsApp on the new Xiaomi, the app will find itself in the cloud and prompt you to restore the history.

With Viber, the situation is similar, but there is a nuance with media files. In Viber settings (Settings → Account → Backup Viber), you can choose whether to save media files to a copy. If space is limited in Google Drive, you better save only text, and transfer photos and videos through Mi Mover to the DCIM folder.

When switching from iPhone to Xiaomi (from iOS to Android), a standard iCloud backup will not be suitable for recovery on an Android device directly through Google Drive in some versions. However, modern versions of WhatsApp support direct history transfer when you first launch an app on a new Android, if you scan it. QR-iPhone-screen code.

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Recovery is possible only when using the same phone number and the same Google/iCloud account as the old device.

Frequent problems and their solution

Despite automation, there may be disruptions in the migration process, most commonly when users experience a Wi-Fi Direct connection break, this happens if one of the devices goes into power saving mode or the screen goes out. To avoid this, temporarily turn off sleep mode in the screen settings.

Another common problem is broken apps, which may not open or crash after porting, because the new Xiaomi may have a newer version of Android, and older versions of apps (especially system or modified ones) become incompatible.

The solution is one: remove the broken application and download it again from the official GetApps store or Google Play. APK-Files will take longer than a clean installation.

• 📉 Slow speed: If the transmission is too long, bring the devices closer to each other and remove metal objects between them.
• 📂 No folders: some system folders (for example, Android/data) may be hidden or unavailable for portability due to security concerns.
• 🔋 Heating: When you record data intensively, the phone can get very hot - this is normal, but it is better to remove the case for better heat sink.

⚠️ Warning: If the new phone is slow after transfer, reboot and wait around 30-60 The system needs time to index files and optimize the application database in the background.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions