How to Switch to GrapheneOS from Android or iPhone
By Tony · FreedomTech · 12 min read · Updated June 2026
If you are wondering how to switch to GrapheneOS, here is the good news first: most people come across from Android, and from Android it is one of the easiest moves you will ever make with a phone. Your contacts, your message history, your photos and your files all come with you. Nothing of yours gets left behind unless you want it to.
The part people worry about, getting the operating system on and locked down properly, is already done. Your FreedomTech phone arrives configured in Australia with GrapheneOS installed, hardened, and set up with a curated set of privacy-respecting apps. You do not flash anything. You do not unlock a bootloader. The only thing left in your hands is moving your own life across, and that is what this guide walks you through.
Coming from an iPhone? Almost as easy, you just have one thing to take care of before anything else, and it is easy to miss. Skip to the iPhone step below and read it first, then come back to the top. Leave it too late and your text messages can keep disappearing into Apple's servers for weeks.
The short version
- The operating system is already done for you. This guide is only about moving your contacts, messages, photos and files.
- Do the prep on your old phone first, while you still have it, especially your two-factor codes. That is where people lock themselves out.
- Android to GrapheneOS is quick. iPhone takes a little more care, starting with turning off iMessage.
- A fresh SIM is worth considering, and if you get one, activate it on the new phone, not the old one.
First, while you still have your old phone
The first part of how to switch to GrapheneOS happens before you open the new box. Almost every problem comes from wiping or handing on the old phone before grabbing something off it, so spend ten minutes here and the rest is smooth.
- Move your two-factor codes across first. If you use an authenticator app for banking, email or crypto logins, those codes live on your old phone and do not magically appear on the new one. Your FreedomTech phone comes with Aegis Authenticator installed. Re-enrol your important accounts into Aegis while the old phone is still in front of you. This is the single most common way people get locked out, so do it before anything else.
- Note down your account passwords. Make sure you can log back into the accounts that matter (email, banking, your password manager) on the new phone. If you use a password manager, confirm you know its master password.
- Decide about your SIM. Your old SIM will usually work in the new phone, but a fresh SIM is worth considering: the old one is tied to your old device, and a new one keeps a cleaner identity. It is recommended, not required. If you do get a new SIM, put it straight into the new phone, never into the old one (more on that below).
The SIM trap worth knowing. The moment a new SIM is activated in your old phone, it ties that old handset's identity to the new SIM account, whether or not you ever connect to Wi-Fi. That quietly undoes half the point of a clean start. Only ever activate a new SIM in the new phone.
Coming from an iPhone? Read this before you touch anything
This is the step you cannot skip. While you still have the iPhone, or even after, turn off iMessage so Apple stops intercepting your texts. Otherwise other iPhone users will keep sending to Apple's servers, the sender sees "Delivered", and you see nothing on the new phone.
- On the iPhone: Settings, Messages, turn iMessage off. Then Settings, FaceTime, turn it off too.
- If you have already sold or wiped the iPhone, use Apple's deregister iMessage page to unhook your number remotely.
- Sign out of your Apple ID and turn off Find My before wiping the iPhone. This avoids activation lock headaches and stops the old phone phoning home.
Transfer your contacts
Contacts are the easiest thing to bring across, and you can do it without handing your whole address book to Google for safekeeping.
From Android
On your old Android phone, open Contacts, go to the settings or "manage contacts" menu, and choose Export. Save the file (it will be a .vcf) to your computer or a USB drive. On your GrapheneOS phone, open Contacts, choose Import, and point it at that file. Done, no account required.
If your old contacts were stored in a Google account, you can sign into Google Contacts on a computer, export them as a .vcf, then import that file the same way. Pull them out once, then leave the account behind.
From iPhone
On the iPhone, the cleanest path is to export your contacts as a .vcf from iCloud.com on a computer (select all, then Export vCard), then import that single file into Contacts on your GrapheneOS phone. One file in, the whole address book lands.
Transfer your text message history
This is the part people assume is impossible. From Android it is straightforward. From iPhone it is the fiddliest part of the whole move, and often not worth the effort.
From Android
Use a backup app on the old phone to save your messages to a file, then restore that file on the new phone. The well-established option is SMS Backup & Restore by SyncTech. Get it from the Aurora Store rather than the Play Store, even on your old Android phone. Aurora itself installs from F-Droid, so you can keep Google out of it from the very start. Install the app, back up your messages to a local file, copy that file across to the GrapheneOS phone, install the same app there, and restore. Your threads come back in order.
From iPhone
Apple does not give you a clean way to export your iMessage and SMS history to another platform, and the paid tools that promise it are hit and miss. For most people switching from an iPhone, the practical answer is to let the old threads stay on the old phone and start fresh. Your conversations carry on with the same people; you simply do not drag years of old marketing texts onto a clean device. If a specific thread really matters, screenshot it before you wipe the phone.
Transfer your photos and files
Photos, documents and anything else move across without a cloud account in the middle. Two simple methods cover almost everyone.
Method 1: Forkgram saved messages (no cables, no cloud account)
Forkgram comes installed on your FreedomTech phone. On your old phone, install Forkgram or Telegram, open Saved Messages, and send your photos and files to yourself. On the GrapheneOS phone, open Forkgram, go to Saved Messages, and download them. It is quick, it works over any internet connection, and there is no cable to fuss with.
Method 2: Email
For a handful of important documents, emailing them to yourself is perfectly fine. For hundreds of photos it is slow, so use the Forkgram method above or move them by USB as below.
Getting files onto your computer
Plenty of people want their photos backed up on a computer, not just on the phone. GrapheneOS handles this safely, with one quirk worth knowing so you are not left wondering why nothing happens when you plug in.
Why your computer "ignores" the phone at first. By default GrapheneOS keeps the USB port locked to charging only, even when unlocked. That is a deliberate security feature. To move files, unlock the phone, then tap the USB notification and switch it from "Charging" to "File transfer". Now your computer can see it.
On Windows
Plug in, switch the phone to File transfer, and it appears in File Explorer as a device. Open it, browse to your photos, and drag them to a folder on the computer.
On Linux Mint
Same idea. Plug in, set the phone to File transfer, and it mounts in the file manager. Open it and copy across. No drivers, no extra software.
Using a dual USB drive
If you would rather skip the computer, a dual USB drive (USB-C on one end, USB-A on the other) plugs straight into the phone, so you can copy photos to the drive and then to any computer later. We keep these and a few other useful bits in our accessories range.
What to leave behind on purpose
Part of knowing how to switch to GrapheneOS well is knowing what not to bring. Before you spend an afternoon dragging everything across, it is worth asking what actually deserves a place on a phone that is now properly private. Not everything is worth moving.
Most old phones are full of years of accumulated clutter: apps that track you, accounts that data brokers have already indexed, location history baked into photo files, and cookies tied to advertising profiles. Bulk-copying all of that onto a clean phone is a bit like moving house for a fresh start and bringing every box of rubbish with you. The contacts you need, yes. Important documents, yes. Current photos, absolutely. The rest is a chance to start lighter.
One thing that surprises new owners, and it is not a fault
Because there is no Google push service running in the background, notifications arrive when you open an app, not the instant a message lands on a server somewhere. New owners sometimes read that as "broken" and reach for support. It is not broken. It is the phone doing exactly what it should: not pinging you all day, not lighting up in meetings, not reporting back constantly. Most people find within a week that they do not miss the noise at all. If a particular app matters for instant alerts, you can adjust that per app, but give the quiet a few days first.
Not sure which phone yet?
This guide picks up from the point where your phone is in your hand. If you are still working out which model suits you, start with our guide to deGoogled phones in Australia, which walks through the range and who each one is for. Once you have chosen, knowing how to switch to GrapheneOS is the easy part, and everything above is waiting for you.
How to switch to GrapheneOS: your questions answered
Do I need a new SIM to switch? +
Will I lose my contacts, messages or photos? +
Do I need a Google account or any cloud service? +
Why aren't my notifications instant? +
I'm coming from an iPhone. What do I do first? +
Does my FreedomTech phone arrive ready to use? +
Phone sorted? Round out your privacy.
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FreedomTech · The Privacy Experts · freedomtech.com.au