How to transfer data from iPhone to Xiaomi: all the ways 2026

The transition from iPhone to Xiaomi smartphone is not only a change in the ecosystem, but also the need to transfer all the important data: contacts, photos, messages and applications. Many users fear this process as complex or risky, but in fact, modern tools make migration simple and almost automatic. MIUI, including official solutions from Apple and Xiaomi, as well as third-party services.

It is important to understand that the process depends on the version of iOS (on your iPhone) and MIUI (We're focusing on the current version: iOS. 17.x and MIUI 15 (based on Android 14). If you have an older firmware, some steps may be different — that's what we'll talk about, too.

1.Official way: Google’s “Switch to Android” app

The most reliable and recommended way is to use an official tool from Google, the Google One app that allows you to move most of your data wirelessly, without connecting to your computer. Here's how it works:

First, download the app to your iPhone from the App Store. Then, on the new Xiaomi, when you first turn on, select the option to Copy data from the old device (if the phone is already configured, reset it to factory settings or use an alternative method from the next section). On your iPhone, open the app, follow the instructions, and connect to the temporary Wi-Fi network created by the Xiaomi smartphone.

• 📱 What is transferred: contacts, messages, photos / videos, calendars, email accounts, some settings.
• ⚡ Speed: Depends on the amount of data (on average) 10-30 minute 50 GB).
• ⚠️ Restrictions: No apps (only their data if you have a backup in iCloud), notes from Apple Notes, and purchases from the App Store.
• 🔄 Alternative: If the app doesn’t work, try updating iOS or resetting your network settings on your iPhone.

⚠️ Note: If you already have data on Xiaomi (for example, you have used your phone for several days), make a backup to Settings before transferring it. → Google → Backup: After the migration, old data on Xiaomi will be deleted!

2. Transfer via iCloud: for contacts, photos and notes

If you're a user of iCloud, you can migrate some of your data without any additional apps, and this is a method that works for contacts, photos, notes and calendars, but not for messages or apps.

First, make sure that your iPhone is enabled sync with iCloud: Settings → [Your name] → iCloud. Switches opposite Contacts, Photos and Notes should be active. Then on Xiaomi, follow the following steps:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Synchronization.
2. Add an iCloud account (select Add an account) → Apple).
3. Enter data from your Apple ID Allow the synchronization of the required data.
4. For photos, use the Google Photos app: upload them from iCloud to your iPhone, then download them to Xiaomi.

This method does not require resetting Xiaomi to factory settings, but has limitations: notes from Apple Notes will be displayed in format. HTML (Perhaps with broken formatting, and photos will be uploaded in the original resolution, which can take up a lot of space.

3. Photo and video transfer: Google Photos vs. Explorer

Photos and videos usually take up the most space, so it's worth paying special attention to them. There are two main ways to do this: through Google Photos or direct copying over cable. Let's look at both.

Method 1: Google Photos (Cloud)

• 📤 On your iPhone, install Google Photos from the App Store and sign in to your Google account.
• 🔄 Enable backup: Photos → Settings → Backup and synchronization.
• 📥 On Xiaomi, open Google Photos and wait for all media files to load (may take several hours with a large volume).
• 💾 To free up space on Xiaomi, after downloading, turn on the option to Free up space in the application settings.

Method 2: Direct copying over cable

You will need a Lightning cable for this–USB-C (Or an adapter) and a file manager on Xiaomi (like Explorer or Files by Google). Connect your iPhone to Xiaomi and do the following:

1. On iPhone, unlock the screen and confirm trust in the device (Trust this computer).
2. On Xiaomi, open the notification USB-Connect and select File Transfer.
3. In the conductor, go to the folder. DCIM → 100APPLE (Here are photos and videos).
4. Copy files into a folder DCIM → Camera on Xiaomi.

⚠️ Note: When you directly copy through the Live Photos cable (live photos) from the iPhone will turn into normal JPEG + To save the effect, use Google Photos or specialized applications like CopyTrans.

4. Contact portability: iCloud, SIM-card

Contacts are one of the most important data, and you can do this in a number of ways. Let's look at three of the most reliable methods.

Method 1: Through iCloud (recommended)

If your contacts are synced with iCloud, export them in.vcf format: iCloud.com → Contacts → Highlight everything → ⚙️ → Export vCard.

Then submit the file to Xiaomi (by mail, via Telegram or Google Drive) and import it in the Contacts app.

Method 2: Through SIM-map

This is good if you have little contact (SIM-The card stores a limited amount: Settings → Contacts → Imports SIM-Contacts (on iPhone) then insert SIM Xiaomi and import contacts through Contacts → Settings → Imports/Exports → Import with SIM.

Method 3: Through a Google Account

Add a Google account to your iPhone (Settings) → Contacts → Accounts. → Add an account and enable contact sync. On Xiaomi, log in to the same account, contacts will automatically reach up.

Make sure all contacts are saved to iCloud or Google

Check the space available on Xiaomi (minimum 100 MB for vCard)

Disable Contact Optimization in MIUI (Settings → Contacts → Optimization)

Backup your contacts on iPhone (Settings) → [Your name] → iCloud → Backup copy)

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5. Postponement of messages: iSMS2droid alternatives

Messages from iMessage and SMS The most difficult part of the problem is that Apple does not provide official tools for exporting them:

Method 1: iSMS2droid (root-user)

Annex iSMS2droid It allows you to convert your backup of iTunes to an Android-compatible format:

1. Back up your iPhone via iTunes (on your computer).
2. Find the backup file (usually by ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ on Mac or %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\ on Windows).
3. Copy the file. 3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28 (base SMS) and process it through iSMS2droid.
4. Transfer the received.xml to Xiaomi and import through the app SMS Backup & Restore.

Method 2: Email or cloud services (manual transfer)

If there are few messages, you can manually send them to yourself by mail or via Telegram: Open chat → Select messages → Share. → Post/Telegram.

On Xiaomi, save correspondence in the Messages app or specialized messengers.

⚠️ Note: Messages from iMessage (blue bubbles) are not portable - only SMS/MMS (If you care about emails on iMessage, take screenshots or export them to the Internet. PDF via Mac (Messages app) → File. → Seal. → Save how PDF).

💡

If you have a Mac, use the Android File Transfer app to easily transfer files between your iPhone and Xiaomi.It lets you view the Android device file system like a regular folder.

6. Transfer of applications and their data

Unfortunately, apps from the App Store can't be migrated to Android, they'll have to be reinstalled from Google Play, but some apps (e.g. games, instant messengers, cloud services) can be saved.

Step 1: Sync through accounts

• 🎮 Games: If the game supports a cross-platform account (for example, through Facebook, Google Play Games or Game Center), log in to Xiaomi – progress will be automatically picked up.
• 💬 In WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber chats are tied to the phone number – after installation on Xiaomi, they will recover at the first authorization.
• ☁️ Cloud services: Apps like Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive sync data automatically after logging in to your account.

Step 2: Manual transfer of saves

Some apps (e.g. Spotify, Netflix) store data locally to transfer it:

1. On your iPhone, find a folder with the app’s data (usually via iTunes or iMazing).
2. Copy files to your computer, then move them to Xiaomi in a folder Android/data/[application-package].
3. Install the app on Xiaomi and check if the data has pulled up.

Importantly, banking apps, e-tickets, and some services (like Apple Pay) aren’t portable to Android. They’ll have to be reconfigured.

7. Transfer of notes, mail and other data

Notes, mail and calendars are the easiest to transfer – just synchronize them with cross-platform services.

Notes:

• If you’ve used Apple Notes, export them to Google Keep or Evernote via iCloud.com (emphasize notes) → Export to PDF).
• For Google Keep, install the app on your iPhone and manually transfer notes.

Mail and calendars:

• Add a Google or Microsoft Exchange account to your iPhone and enable email/calendar sync.
• On Xiaomi, log in to the same account – the data will automatically be pulled into the Gmail and Calendar apps.

Other data (health, passwords, etc.):

• 🏃 Apple Health: Export data via the Health Export app (available on the App Store) to.xml, then import it to Google Fit.
• 🔑 Passwords: If you used iCloud Keychain, move passwords manually or use a manager like this 1Password or Bitwarden.

💡

For most data (except apps and iMessage), it is enough to sync it with Google services, and this is the most versatile and reliable way to migrate.

8. Post-transfer validation and optimization

After transferring the data, be sure to check its integrity and optimize the work of Xiaomi.

• 🔍 Contact Checker: Open the Contacts app and make sure all numbers are displayed correctly (no duplicates or missed fields).
• 📸 Photos: Go to the Gallery and check that all albums and metadata (date, geotags) are saved.
• 📱 Performance: Reboot Xiaomi and clear the cache (Settings) → Annexes → Clear the cache).
• 🔒 Security: Set up unlock by fingerprint or face (Settings) → Lock screen and password).

If some data is not transferred or is displayed incorrectly, try repeating the process or using alternative methods from this article.

• Install MIUI Optimization (available in Xiaomi Settings Lab) to improve performance.
• Disable unnecessary system applications through Settings → Applications → Application Management.
• Set up autosynchronization with Google for backup (Settings) → Accounts and synchronization → Google).