Why it matters to you
If you’re the owner of a shiny new Samsung Galaxy, you might want a quick and easy way to transfer your files. That’s what Smart Switch is for.
Samsung is trying to take back some of the market share currently controlled by its biggest competition — Apple. How is it doing this? Well, it’s redesigning its Smart Switch website aimed at luring iPhone users back to the Android side.
Smart Switch basically allows users to move their data and content from one phone to their shiny new Galaxy handset quickly and easily — without having to worry about transferring individual file types like photos. It does this from basically any phone — including the iOS-powered iPhone. That makes it a great tool for those who might be interested in switching to an Android handset.
Smart Switch doesn’t only work for those moving from the iPhone to a Galaxy — it’s compatible with Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, and even BlackBerry. You can also transfer data a number of different ways if you so choose — wirelessly, through a cable, or through the Smart Switch computer app.
From there, you can choose the types of files that you want transferred over, after which your new phone will have all your old files.
Of course, Samsung isn’t alone in offering this kind of tool. Apple has built a tool of its own called “Move to iOS,” which is available on Android phones. To this end, the app is one of the very few Apple apps available on Android — and it’s aimed at helping users ditch Android in the first place.
While tools like this are helpful, they’re becoming increasingly obsolete thanks to the fact that users are moving to cloud storage. Cloud storage solutions make it extremely easy to move to new phones, since few files are stored on the handset itself, and even the ones that are are copies of the original file stored in the cloud.
Samsung and Apple have long struggled against each other to control market share, and while Samsung has traditionally sold more handsets overall, Apple currently controls the vast majority of the U.S. smartphone market.
While Samsung has only updated the Smart Switch website so far, we may soon see an update to the apps as well — though the apps are still pretty nicely designed.