Best way to move to S4 from Droid Razr?

[SallyC]

I have a Droid Razr and will be moving to an S4. When I go to the dealer to activate it and get the sim card, would you recommend I have them copy my apps over from my Razr? I can copy what I have on my external SD card to the S4's card before I go so apps like BeyondPod will work right. But I'm just wondering if I'd be better off to install the apps individually for some reason.

What I don't want to do is sign into my Google acct and download all the apps I've ever gotten. Not sure how to avoid that - it seems like Razr asked me if I wanted to do that, but I don't know if that's applicable anymore. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[m3incorp]

I have a Droid Razr and will be moving to an S4. When I go to the dealer to activate it and get the sim card, would you recommend I have them copy my apps over from my Razr? I can copy what I have on my external SD card to the S4's card before I go so apps like BeyondPod will work right. But I'm just wondering if I'd be better off to install the apps individually for some reason.

What I don't want to do is sign into my Google acct and download all the apps I've ever gotten. Not sure how to avoid that - it seems like Razr asked me if I wanted to do that, but I don't know if that's applicable anymore. Any help would be appreciated.



Thanks.

Are you upgrading the SD card also? Otherwise, the microSD card from the RAZR will work just fine in the S4. The method that you said that you don't want to do, is actually the easiest. You don't have to download "all" of the Apps, you get to choose which ones you would like to download to your new S4. As long as you have been backing up contacts and media either with google or Verizon backup, you will be able to have them moved to your S4 after it is activated....takes a few minutes to do it yourself. One thing to remember is if you have pictures or media saved to the internal storage of the RAZR and it hasn't been backed up, you will want to either back them up to google/Verizon backup or move to the microSD card.

 

[SallyC]

Are you upgrading the SD card also? Otherwise, the microSD card from the RAZR will work just fine in the S4. The method that you said that you don't want to do, is actually the easiest. You don't have to download "all" of the Apps, you get to choose which ones you would like to download to your new S4. As long as you have been backing up contacts and media either with google or Verizon backup, you will be able to have them moved to your S4 after it is activated....takes a few minutes to do it yourself. One thing to remember is if you have pictures or media saved to the internal storage of the RAZR and it hasn't been backed up, you will want to either back them up to google/Verizon backup or move to the microSD card.

Thanks for your reply. I am upgrading the card as it comes with a 16GB and I am putting in a 32GB. I don't want to give up the one in my Razr because I'm thinking I can still use it (without the phone or data) on wifi for things around the house.

I didn't realize I could pick and choose which apps I want. I was anticipating the Verizon person activating the phone and then asking me if I wanted to clone over from my Razr and not sure how to answer. Is it possible to just clone over what I currently have because part of what I have is Tasker set with certain profiles to run, BeyondPod set with various feeds, etc. The apps I have installed on my Razr are the ones I would select for the G4. I'm just not sure if they would install the same since it's a different phone. Also my Razr is Android 4.1.2 and I don't know what the G4 is.

Thanks for your input.

 

[m3incorp]

Sally, your S4 should have 4.2.2 and RAZR running 4.1.2 (Note if you bought a new S4 that has been in stock and not updated, just go to software upgrade and it will download) It won't matter for when you reinstall the apps. AFTER you activate your S4, go to the Play Store either on your computer ( I do it on my computer as the old eyes can see much better( and sign in, then go to Apps and click on My Apps. You can then click on any App that you had previously and it will download to your S4. Note that in the beginning I said do this AFTER you activate the S4. That way it is tied to your google account and playstore will allow you to move the apps to any android device that you own. I did that with my move from RAZR to S4 and again last night after buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet.

 

[SallyC]

Great information. Thanks!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

 

[m3incorp]

You are very welcome, glad to help.

 

[bbtkd]

Another suggestion is that before re-downloading your apps, be on Wi-fi if you are on a limited data plan so you don't eat up too much of your quota. Also note that if you have any apps which store data, such as a password vault app or something like Colornotes, then you need to copy the data. Most of these apps have a function to backup their data to the SD card, so on your old phone you would do the app backups, then find the backup files on your SD-card and get them moved to your new SD-card in the same location, then use the app to recover that backup file. As stated, your contacts and calendar should sync with Google once you sign in, and you'll need to move any media files such as movies, music, favorite ringtones, pictures, documents, etc.

When I go to any new device - a phone, tablet, laptop or PC - I copy my important files from the old device to a directory on my laptop and then use that to copy to the new device. I leave most files there as a backup, and have had to retrieve files several years after I've lost track of them elsewhere. Android has a huge flaw in it's lack of a built in backup app. We should be able to backup our phones daily, automatically sync the encrypted and compressed backup file to our Google drive, and be able to fully recover our phones from that within an hour or two.

 

[SallyC]

Thanks, bbtkd. I've got Unlimited so the wifi isn't an issue for me, but that's a good point. I copied my Razr's SD card to my pc and then to another SD card that's going in the S4 when it comes. But you bring up a good point about data that's on the internal storage.

I guess what I'll do is, after they activate it, take it home and start downloading apps. Some of them will need to be configured to look to my external-SD card and the ones that won't store there, I'll copy the info over from my Razr. Fortunately I still have it and it works! Because you're right about being able to back up our devices easily.

Samsung actually has a program, SmartSwitch, which says "With Smart Switch, you can transfer your personal data, media and apps with one service, without having to use multiple tools." But when I looked into further I found "Smart Switch can transfer content from Apple, Blackberry, and some Nokia/Symbian platforms. Content can also be migrated from other Samsung phones like the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II. Windows Phone® platform is not supported." so I don't think it's going to be any help with my Droid Razr.

Sounds like it'll take me a bit of time, but that's okay. Now at least I know what I need to do - and what not to do!