eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
File this under the “you don’t see this everyday” technology news—Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt just posted a step-by-step primer on how users can dump their iPhones and move to an Android smartphone.
Schmidt’s very detailed instructions were posted on his personal Google+ page on Nov. 24 as a self-described guide for friends who apparently told him that they are making the jump in their own lives.
Titled “Eric’s Guide: Converting to Android from iPhone,” the post details each needed step in excruciating detail, down to powering on one’s iPhone, then connecting it to a WiFi network and even logging into one’s Gmail account so the process can begin.
“Many of my iPhone friends are converting to Android,” wrote Schmidt in the post. “The latest high-end phones from Samsung (Galaxy S4), Motorola (Verizon Droid Ultra) and the Nexus 5 (for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) have better screens, are faster, and have a much more intuitive interface. They are a great Christmas present to an iPhone user!”
To make that leap easier, Schmidt offers his transition advice. “Here are the steps I recommend to make this switch,” he wrote. “Like the people who moved from PCs to Macs and never switched back, you will switch from iPhone to Android and never switch back as everything will be in the cloud, backed up, and there are so many choices for you. Eighty percent of the world, in the latest surveys, agrees on Android.”
Schmidt first describes to new Android users how they can set up their new devices, starting with powering them up, connecting to WiFi, then logging into their Gmail accounts to get started. The next step includes downloading any needed apps from the Google Play store, then checking to be sure that the new Android device is running the latest version of its Android operating system, Version 4.3 or Version 4.4 KitKat.
After a few more steps, he wrote, the new Android user should have access to their Gmail accounts and can continue the switchover process so they can also move images, music and other content from the iPhone to the Android device. Schmidt also details how users can remove the SIM card from their iPhones and insert it into their Android phone so the last configuration steps can be completed. “You may need an adapter (from nano-SIM to micro-SIM), but then reboot the Android and you are all set!” he wrote. “For texting either use the Messenger app in earlier releases or the ‘Hangouts’ app in Android 4.4.”
And to make his point even more strongly, Schmidt writes that he recommends that new Android phone owners “use Chrome, not Safari” as their mobile browsers because “it’s safer and better in so many ways.”
In addition, Schmidt writes, users should “be sure to use two-factor authentication” for their Gmail and Google accounts, which “makes it very hard for someone to break into your Gmail.”
The open post to iPhone users isn’t exactly unusual for Schmidt, who often raises issues in broader technology circles on behalf of his company.
Earlier in November, Schmidt wrote an open letter to by The (London) Daily Mail to announce how Google is bolstering its fight to block online images of child abuse by fine-tuning its search engine to prevent such links from appearing in searches. His post also announced that Google has hired more than 200 people to find even more ways to put an end to this kind of exploitation.
Also in November, Schmidt harshly criticized the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) over allegations and reports that the agency had been spying on Google data. He made his remarks during a visit to Hong Kong.