How do I transfer my music playlist from my old phone to my new phone?
The goal of transferring music playlists from an old phone to a new phone is to smoothly migrate your listening library so you can continue enjoying your playlists and songs without interruption. When getting a new phone, you’ll want to move over not just your contacts, photos, and settings, but also your curated playlists and music files.
Manually transferring all your music and playlists from one device to another can be tedious and time consuming. Thankfully, there are several quick and easy ways to transfer this data so you can spend more time listening to your music collection instead of moving it piece by piece.
In this guide, we will explore the most effective methods for getting your playlists, music files, and listening history from your old Android or iPhone onto your shiny new device.
Back Up Old Phone’s Music Library
Before transferring your music library to a new phone, it’s crucial to back up your old phone’s library first. This ensures you have a copy of your music collection in case anything goes wrong during the transfer process. Backing up also allows you to restore your music library if the transfer doesn’t fully work.
To back up an iPhone music library:
– Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.
– Under Library, click on Music.
– Select all of the songs in your library and drag them to your desktop or another folder on your computer to create a backup. 1
To back up an Android music library:
– Connect your Android phone to your computer and open the Android File Transfer app.
– Navigate to the Music folder.
– Select all audio files and folders and drag them to your desktop or another folder. 2
Backing up your music library ensures you have a safety net before transferring your playlists and music to a new phone.
Connect Both Phones
In order to transfer your music playlists from your old phone to your new phone, you will first need to get both devices connected to one another. This allows your old and new phones to communicate and share data.
The easiest way to connect an Android phone to a new Android phone is to use a USB cable. Use the charging cable that came with your new Android phone, plug one end into your new phone, and plug the other end into your old phone. This creates a direct connection between the two devices via USB and enables data transfer.
Alternatively, you can connect the phones wirelessly using Bluetooth. Enable Bluetooth on both your old and new phones. Then pair the devices so they are linked via Bluetooth. This also enables transfer of data between the two phones.
Once your old and new Android phones are connected via USB or Bluetooth, you are ready to begin transferring your music playlists. The direct physical connection via USB cable is usually the fastest and most reliable way to transfer data between two Android devices.
[1] “Transfer Your Data to Your New Android.” https://www.android.com/transfer-data-android-to-android/
Use File Transfer App
One easy way to transfer your music playlist from an Android phone to an iPhone is by using a file transfer app like SHAREit. File transfer apps allow you to quickly send media files, documents, and other data between devices. An advantage of using an app like SHAREit is that it creates a local peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection between your old Android phone and new iPhone so you can transfer files without using mobile data or needing an internet connection.
To use SHAREit to transfer your playlist, first install the SHAREit app on both your Android and iOS devices. Once installed, open the app on each device and scan the QR code shown on the other device’s screen to connect them. On your Android device, navigate to your music folder, select the playlist files you want to transfer, and tap the send icon. The playlist files will begin transferring to your iPhone over the peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection. After the transfer completes, you’ll be able to access the playlists in your iPhone’s music app.
File transfer apps provide a quick, easy way to move your playlists and music collection over to your new iPhone. The direct device-to-device connection allows for fast transfer speeds without needing internet access or mobile data.
Transfer via Cloud Storage
One convenient way to transfer your music playlists between phones is by using cloud storage services like iCloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox. Here’s how to upload your playlists to the cloud from your old phone:
- On your old phone, open the Settings app and go to the iCloud or cloud storage section.
- Enable iCloud Music Library or the music/audio upload feature for your cloud service.
- Connect your old phone to power and WiFi to begin uploading your music library and playlists. This may take a while depending on how much music you have.
- Once fully uploaded, you can check the cloud storage app or website on your computer to confirm your music is there.
Now that your playlists are in the cloud, you can access them from your new phone. Simply install the same cloud storage app, login with the same credentials, and your music will sync down to your new device. Any playlists created on one device will appear on all your others. This makes cloud services a seamless way to transfer playlists between phones.
Use Playlist Transfer Apps
Specialized playlist transfer apps like Move to iOS or Copy My Data can simplify transferring your playlists from an old phone to a new phone. These apps allow you to wirelessly transfer not just your playlists, but also your contacts, messages, photos, videos, and more from your old Android or iPhone to your new device.
Move to iOS is designed by Apple specifically for moving your content from an Android device to an iPhone. Once you download the app on your Android phone, you can pair the two devices using a code and then select which data you want to move over. This includes your playlists from apps like Spotify, YouTube, and more. The transfer happens wirelessly over your WiFi network.
Similarly, Samsung’s Copy My Data app allows you to migrate playlists and media from an old iPhone or Android device to a new Galaxy smartphone. You can choose to move just your playlists if you don’t need to transfer everything. The app connects the devices through a USB cable or WiFi direct for a simple transfer.
Using a specialized app like Move to iOS or Copy My Data simplifies the playlist transfer process so you don’t have to manually rebuild playlists one-by-one. It also ensures all of your playlist data transfers securely and completely.
Transfer via USB
One of the easiest ways to transfer your music playlists from an Android device to an iPhone is by using a USB cable connection. Here are the steps:
First, connect your Android device to your computer using a USB cable. On your computer, you should see your Android phone show up as a drive where you can access the files. Go to the music folder and copy all the songs and playlists you want to transfer to a folder on your computer.
Next, connect your iPhone to the same computer using a USB cable. The iPhone should show up as a drive on your computer as well. Open iTunes on the computer and go to the music library. Select all the songs/playlists you copied from your Android device and drag and drop them into your iTunes library. This will sync the music onto your iPhone.
Finally, disconnect both phones from your computer. On your iPhone, open the Apple Music app. You should now see all the playlists and songs copied from your Android device available for playback. You can play them, add them to new playlists, etc.
The direct USB connection provides a quick and easy way to get your music collection from an Android phone over to an iPhone. As long as you have access to the same computer, you can quickly transfer playlists via a USB cable.
Sync Playlists with iTunes
One way to transfer playlists between iPhones is to sync them through iTunes. This will work if both your old and new iPhones are associated with the same iTunes library on your computer. Here are the steps:
- Install the latest version of iTunes on your computer and open it.
- Connect your new iPhone to your computer using the USB cable. This will add your new iPhone to the iTunes library.
- Now connect your old iPhone to the computer. Both phones should show up in iTunes.
- In iTunes, click on your old iPhone and go to the Music section. Make sure “Sync Music” is checked and select the playlists you want to transfer in the “Selected playlists” section.
- Click Apply to sync the selected playlists from your old iPhone to your iTunes library.
- Now click on your new iPhone in iTunes and make sure “Sync Music” is checked. Select the same playlists that you just synced from your old device.
- Click Apply again. This will sync those playlists to your new iPhone.
Once the sync is complete, you will find the transferred playlists on your new device in the Music app. Keep in mind that iTunes will only transfer the playlist structure – you’ll still need the music content on the new phone, either synced via iTunes or downloaded from the cloud. Refer to Apple’s support guide for more details on syncing playlists through iTunes.
Re-download Music
If you purchased songs or albums from the iTunes Store in the past, you may be able to re-download this music onto your new phone. The iTunes Store keeps a record of all the music you’ve purchased, so you can access your library and download songs again when needed.
To re-download purchased music on an iPhone, open the Apple Music app and tap on the Library tab at the bottom. Scroll down and select “Purchased”. This will show you all the music available to download that you’ve purchased through your Apple ID. Tap the cloud download icon next to any album or song to re-download it to your device.
You can also re-download purchased music by going to the iTunes Store app on your new iPhone. Tap on your profile icon, select “Purchased”, and tap “Music” to view your purchase history. Tap the cloud icon to re-download any previously purchased song or album.
If you use iTunes on a computer, you can re-download your purchased music library there as well. Open iTunes, go to Account > Purchased, and select “Music” to view your purchase history. Check the songs you want to download again, then click the Download button.
Downloading previously purchased songs and albums is an easy way to rebuild your music library on a new phone. Just make sure you are signed into the iTunes Store and App Store with the same Apple ID that was used to originally purchase the music (Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211816).
Conclusions
To recap, this article covered several methods for transferring your music playlists from an old phone to a new phone. The main approaches included connecting both phones via a file transfer app or USB cable, syncing playlists through iTunes, using cloud storage services, downloading third-party playlist transfer apps, and simply re-downloading all your music to the new device.
The easiest options with the highest success rate are using a file transfer app if both phones are the same operating system, or syncing through iTunes if you use an iPhone. Cloud storage is also reliable but requires uploading and re-downloading your music library. Playlist transfer apps work well for streaming services but may have compatibility issues.
No matter which method you choose, it’s critical to back up your music library and playlists from the old phone before attempting any transfers. This ensures you have a copy of your playlists if anything goes wrong during the transfer process. Don’t forget this important first step!
Following the backup process and using one of the recommended transfer methods outlined here, you should be able to seamlessly move your playlists to a new phone with minimal effort. Just be patient, use the right tools for your devices, and your music library will be rocking on your new phone in no time.