C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Pixel 9 series introduced a new data transfer tool that lets you complete your transfer post-setup.
- That flexibility lets you get started using your new phone quickly, while not losing old data.
- In 2025, Google intends to make this same tool available to other Android manufacturers.
Google is all about trickle-down features. First we’ll get the company’s fun new toy on some of its latest hardware, and the people who went out and dropped their cash on it get to be the first ones to experience it. But eventually, Google usually gets around to sharing some of that love, whether that’s making a feature available across more of its Pixel lineup, or even to Android devices at large. Today we’re learning about just that kind of plan, as Google fills us in about its latest work towards streamlining the process of moving all your stuff to a new phone.
When the Pixel 9 series debuted earlier this year, Google introduced a new data transfer tool for easily moving all your files, apps, and settings over from your old phone. While that functionality doesn’t sound like anything new, with the Pixel 9 Google introduced a convenient new option that didn’t force you to transfer all your stuff, all at once. Maybe your old phone was stuffed to the brim with photos, and while you don’t really want them on the cloud, you also don’t love the thought of sitting around waiting through a lengthy transfer while trying to set up your next phone — with the Pixel 9, you don’t have to, and can go back and transfer more data later.
That’s great for shoppers picking up a new Pixel, but what about the rest of us? Today Google is highlighting all the steps it’s taken to make new-phone transfers as easy as possible, and shares that the Pixel 9’s extra-flexible data transfer tool is “coming to more Android phone makers in 2025.”
While that’s less than an exhaustive “everybody’s getting it now” confirmation, it sure sounds like a step in the right direction. Hopefully as we start moving into the new year Google will be a little more explicit about who can expect to find this handy-as-all-get-out tool on the next Android smartphone they’re setting up.
