Google and Apple reportedly team up to improve Android-iOS switching

Switching between iOS and Android has always been a bit of a mess. But things may soon get a whole lot better. According to a report from 9to5Google, the two tech giants have confirmed they are working together to make swapping sides a lot less painful.

It is rare for rivals to hold hands, but they are apparently building a standardised way to move your stuff that’s baked right into the device setup.

New code spotted in Android Canary provides clues

Evidence of this was spotted by Android Authority in the latest “Android Canary” build. A Canary build is basically an experimental, often unstable version of software released early for developers to test. In this specific update – version 2512 for Pixel devices, to be exact – a fresh “Copy data” option was found tucked away in the settings.

Right now, if you dig into the “Pair with iPhone or iPad” menu on a standard phone, you usually just see an option for eSIM transfers. But in this new test version, that menu has been expanded. It asks for a session ID and a passcode, which basically acts like a secret digital handshake between the two devices to verify they are allowed to talk to each other securely.

The goal here is to support more data types than the current “Move to iOS” or “Switch to Android” apps can handle. The current implementation reportedly led to errors or missing components in transfers. But this new system is being designed to prevent that.

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For now, the feature was spotted on the Google side, but support is expected to arrive in a future iOS 26 developer beta as well. We don’t know exactly when this will roll out to everyone, but since it is currently just in the testing phase, you might have to wait a bit.

As for why the sudden cooperation, it is likely due to pressure from regulators who’ve been pushing tech companies to open up their walled gardens. Making it easier to leave is one of the ways to do that.