How do I transfer music from iPhone to Android using iTunes?

Transferring music from an iPhone to an Android device using iTunes is a straightforward process that allows you to seamlessly move your music library between platforms. With some preparation and following several key steps, you can export your purchased music, playlists, and non-purchased songs from your iPhone and import them into your new Android device.

In this guide, we’ll provide an overview of the prerequisites, walk through backing up your iPhone to iTunes, transferring purchases and playlists, importing music to your Android device, discussing alternative transfer methods, and finally being able to listen to your music library on your new device.

Prerequisites

To transfer music from an iPhone to an Android device, you’ll need the following:

An iPhone with music you want to transfer
An Android phone to transfer the music to
A computer with iTunes installed to facilitate the transfer process

Ensure both your iPhone and Android device are powered on, connected to the internet, and have enough storage space for the music you want to transfer over. You’ll also need the charging cables for both devices to connect them to your computer.

If you plan on transferring purchases or playlists from iTunes, you’ll need to use the same iTunes account that the purchased content or playlists are associated with. Having your Apple ID login details handy will make the process smoother.

Lastly, install the latest version of iTunes on your Windows or Mac computer to ensure compatibility with your devices. Older versions may not fully support transferring music libraries and playlists between iPhone and Android.

Back Up iPhone to iTunes

The first step in transferring music from an iPhone to an Android phone is to back up the iPhone to iTunes on a computer. This ensures that none of the iPhone data is lost during the transfer process. To back up an iPhone to iTunes, users will need to:

Connect the iPhone to the computer via the USB cable. Open iTunes on the computer. iTunes should automatically detect and open the connected iPhone. If not, click on the iPhone icon in the top left corner of iTunes.

Once the iPhone is connected in iTunes, click on it in the top left and go to the Summary tab. In the Backups section, click “Back Up Now” to start backing up the iPhone data to iTunes. The length of time this takes will depend on how much data needs to be backed up, but can take over an hour for phones with a lot of apps, photos, videos, and music.

The iPhone backup in iTunes includes music, apps, some settings, photos, videos, SMS messages, call history, contacts, calendar, and more. This creates a full snapshot backup of the iPhone that can be restored later if needed. Once the backup is complete, the music transfer process can begin.

For more details on iPhone backup, see: [1]

[1] https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254754311

Transfer Purchases from iPhone to Android

To transfer purchased music from an iPhone to Android, you will need to use iTunes on a computer as the intermediary. iTunes maintains a record of all your purchased music from the iTunes Store. By connecting your iPhone to your computer and backing up your iPhone to iTunes, you can then access those purchased song files.

To transfer the purchases, first connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. Go to the Music section and select all the purchased songs you want to transfer. Right click on the highlighted songs and choose Export. This will save them as MP3 files that can then be transferred to the Android device.

An alternative is to use a third party iOS data transfer app like AnyTrans (source). These tools can directly transfer purchased iTunes content from an iPhone to an Android device without needing iTunes as an intermediary.

Export Playlists

In iTunes, you can export the playlists you want to transfer to your Android device. This allows you to save the playlist information and songs in a format that can be imported into other apps. To export a playlist from iTunes:

Open iTunes and go to the Playlists section.
Right-click on the playlist you want to export and select “Export Playlist…”

Choose a name and save location for the exported playlist file.
Make sure the file type is set to “Playlist File (.m3u)” or “XML File” format.
Check the box for “Include audio files” if you want to copy the song files along with the playlist.

Click “Save” to export the playlist.

The exported M3U or XML file will contain the list of songs in the playlist. If you included the audio files, the actual song files will be copied to the save location as well¹.

Repeat this process for any other playlists you want to transfer from your iPhone. The exported playlist files can then be imported into the Android device or music player.

Import Playlists to Android

Once you’ve exported your playlists from iTunes to your computer, you can import them into your Android’s music app. Here are the steps:

Open the music app on your Android device (Google Play Music, Samsung Music, etc).
Look for an option to import playlists. This is usually in the Library or Playlists tab of the app. For example, in Google Play Music you can tap the hamburger menu icon and select ‘Import Playlists’.

Select the playlist files you exported earlier from iTunes. These will have .m3u or .m3u8 file extensions.
The playlists will now be imported into your Android music app. You can access them in the Playlists tab.

That’s it! You’ve successfully transferred your iTunes playlists over to your Android device. Now you can listen to the same playlists on your new phone.

Transfer Non-Purchased Music

If you have music on your iPhone that wasn’t purchased through iTunes, you’ll need to use third party software to transfer it to your Android device. Here are a few options:

Use an app like CopyTrans Manager to transfer non-purchased songs from iPhone to Android over a WiFi connection. This app can transfer music, playlists, videos, contacts, messages, and more between devices. Learn more at https://www.copytrans.net/copytransmanager.php.

Try using a cloud storage service like Dropbox or Google Drive. Upload your non-purchased iPhone music to the cloud, then download it to your Android device. Just keep in mind you’ll need enough free cloud storage space.

Connect your iPhone and Android phone to the same WiFi network. Use an app like ShareIt to transfer files and media directly between devices without using the cloud.

Overall, you’ll need to use apps designed for transferring non-iTunes content. iTunes itself only transfers music purchased through iTunes or added from a computer. With the right third party apps, you can transfer all your non-purchased iPhone music to your new Android phone.

Alternative Transfer Methods

In addition to using iTunes to transfer music between iPhone and Android, there are some alternative methods you can use as well.

Cloud Storage

You can upload your music library from your iPhone to a cloud storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud Drive. Then on your Android device, download the music files from the cloud storage service.

The benefit of this method is that you don’t need a computer to facilitate the transfer. The drawback is it can be time-consuming to upload and download large music libraries.

Email

You can email music files as attachments from your iPhone to your Android device. This works best for transferring a few songs here and there.

On iPhone, go to the song in your library, tap the Share button, and choose Email. Send the email to yourself and then open it on your Android device to download the attachments.

Third-Party Apps

There are apps like ShareIt and Xender that let you transfer files from iPhone to Android over a peer-to-peer WiFi or Bluetooth connection. After installing the app on both devices, you can select music files on your iPhone and beam them over to your Android phone.

This provides a direct phone-to-phone transfer without needing a computer or cloud storage.

Listen to Transferred Music

After successfully transferring your music from iPhone to Android, you’re now ready to listen and enjoy your music library on your new device.

Simply open the default music player app on your Android device. This is usually an app called “Music” or something similar, depending on your specific Android phone brand and model.

You should see all of your imported music from your iPhone available right within the Android music app. Tap on a song to start playing it.

You can browse your music library by playlists, artists, albums, songs, genres, etc. Everything should be organized just like it was on your iPhone.

Now you can listen to all your favorite music seamlessly on your new Android device. Enjoy your transferred music library anywhere you go!

Conclusion

In summary, transferring music from an iPhone to an Android device can be done in a few easy steps using iTunes. By backing up the iPhone to iTunes, exporting playlists, and transferring purchases, you can move your music library over seamlessly. Some key tips to keep in mind are to consolidate your music library before transferring, and double check that all your songs were properly imported after the transfer. Using iTunes helps ensure you don’t lose any songs or data in the process.

There are also alternative transfer methods like using cloud storage or a third party app that can wireless transfer music between devices. But for most users, using the iTunes sync method will be the simplest way to migrate your music collection when switching from an iPhone to an Android device. Just be sure to backup the iPhone fully first, then use iTunes to export and import the music library.