100% lost trying to download my pics onto my SD card. New S8 owner needs help (was iOS user).

msp1518

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Gang, I am an Apple guy and completely losing it trying to switch to the S8. I backed up my iPhone 6S+ to both Verizon Cloud and Google Photo/Drive.

Earlier today I installed my 64GB SD card and when I go to Gallery I see NOTHING.

But when I go into Google Photos I do see all my photos and albums.

But they are not on my SD card, which has just 6.5mb on it. Nor do they appear to be on my internal storage. I have watched about two hours of YT vids without getting any closer to getting my stuff set.

Can someone PLEASE show me a simple, all step instruction page or tutorial on what the hell I need to do to get all my photos and videos downloaded onto my SD card?

Really banging my head against a wall here.
 

anon(238680)

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There are quite a few threads/posts in the S8 forum about iOS to S8 joys and heartaches. I will move your post there, but in the meantime. Gallery will only see what is on your phone or SD card, that's why you're not seeing anything in it. Photos is looking at your cloud storage so you see the pics, and I'm surprised it hasn't already downloaded them for you. May have to be with uploading with an iPhone. You should be able to tell Photos to get them and copy to your SD card.
 

msp1518

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I have spent all day on this. I am so beyond frustrated I cannot even begin to express my insanity. This is why I am asking for help. NOTHING that I look at or read or follow is explaining to me how to get my photos onto the SD card (or onto the phone, period. I can only see them when I access Google Photos).

I am lost beyond belief and wanting to just go back to Apple and iOS. At least it makes sense and is understandable. iCloud is easy.
 

anon(238680)

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Okay, but you still have all your pictures, right? That's 99% of the battle. As I said earlier, there are many iOS users on this forum who are now using the S8. I'm sure they will jump in and help. The pics are safe, you'll get there :)
 

erasat

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If you have a good iCloud backup with all your photos, just do what you should have done since the beginning as it's the easiest way to transfer all your things to a new Samsung phone, use a Samsung Smart Switch.

Go to Settings-Clouds and Backup and select Smart Switch, it will guide you step by step from there on.
 

erasat

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I have spent all day on this. I am so beyond frustrated I cannot even begin to express my insanity. This is why I am asking for help. NOTHING that I look at or read or follow is explaining to me how to get my photos onto the SD card (or onto the phone, period. I can only see them when I access Google Photos).

I am lost beyond belief and wanting to just go back to Apple and iOS. At least it makes sense and is understandable. iCloud is easy.

I know that switching platforms are scary, but like I mentioned in my previous post, if you had used Samsung Smart Switch that they provide and even suggest you use since you first turn your phone on, it should have saved you tons of time and frustrations.
 

msp1518

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This is the problem. I saw so many people saying DO NOT USE SAMSUNG SOFTWARE! JUST USE GOOGLE! Okay, so I followed their lead and am paying the price. My bad.

So right now I do not know if Google Drive or Photos or whatever it is is even downloading any photos slowly via wifi. So I first need to make sure it is not. I don't think it is. But not sure.

Then when I figure that out I can try the Smart Switch. So it can somehow connect to Apple's cloud? Or my being on a PC do IO use a program to connect both phones to my computer and transfer? Man Googling does not answer these questions.

I definitely have all my photos and videos. Both in Apple's cloud and still on my iPhone 6S+, which I will never ever sell. Ever! :) It will remain my spare phone. The last iPhone with a headphone jack.
 

erasat

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This is the problem. I saw so many people saying DO NOT USE SAMSUNG SOFTWARE! JUST USE GOOGLE! Okay, so I followed their lead and am paying the price. My bad.

So right now I do not know if Google Drive or Photos or whatever it is is even downloading any photos slowly via wifi. So I first need to make sure it is not. I don't think it is. But not sure.

Then when I figure that out I can try the Smart Switch. So it can somehow connect to Apple's cloud? Or my being on a PC do IO use a program to connect both phones to my computer and transfer? Man Googling does not answer these questions.

I definitely have all my photos and videos. Both in Apple's cloud and still on my iPhone 6S+, which I will never ever sell. Ever! :) It will remain my spare phone. The last iPhone with a headphone jack.

If you didn't manually download all your photos from Google, it's not doing anything, it just syncs your photos and show you them on the Google Photos app, that's it.

Don't listen to others, get to your own conclusions, Samsung apps have gotten a lot better than before, sometimes even better than Google's counterpart and the best thing is that they are very well tuned in this new version of TouchWiz or Samsung Experience UI. In a Summary I'm using most of them except Mail, as of now Gmail does things a little better for my taste and needs but if Samsung decides to allow their Mail App to delete emails from the notification bar I can easily jump to it. So, do yourself a favor and while you get used to the new OS just keep it simple and use as many default apps as possible and once you find yourself slur more comfortable begin experimenting worth some apps, a few at a time if you think you still need them.

Samsung smart switch will ask you for iCloud credentials and will allow to restore most of the important stuff you already have in your backup.
 

msp1518

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Thank you for the Tips and help. I just found a YouTube video tutorial. No idea how I missed that one. I watched enough to see I really missed the boat on migration! So I will watch and research this tonight and give it a shot tomorrow. Thank you again. I'll post back what happens.

I will say I am quite surprised at how difficult this process is with cloud services. They do actually make it hard to do, unlike Apple, which makes it as simple as can be. This is why people don't want to leave the apple ecosystem. It's easy! And pretty much automatic. Where it not for apple's stupid decisions in regard to the headphone jack and now apparently touch ID I wouldn't be leaving them.
 

erasat

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Thank you for the Tips and help. I just found a YouTube video tutorial. No idea how I missed that one. I watched enough to see I really missed the boat on migration! So I will watch and research this tonight and give it a shot tomorrow. Thank you again. I'll post back what happens.

I will say I am quite surprised at how difficult this process is with cloud services. They do actually make it hard to do, unlike Apple, which makes it as simple as can be. This is why people don't want to leave the apple ecosystem. It's easy! And pretty much automatic. Where it not for apple's stupid decisions in regard to the headphone jack and now apparently touch ID I wouldn't be leaving them.

Once you are set and running on the S8 between Google cloud and Samsung's own migrating to a new Samsung in the future should be very easy, even if you move to another Android phone, Google cloud for emails, calendars and photos and videos if you sync those from now on, it should be very easy too, at least for that and other basic settings and some apps.

But moving from an OS to another one won't ever be as easy as moving between phones on the same platform.
 

erasat

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I don't know if this is the one you saw on Youtube, but if not, check this video, it will give you some great hints and step by step directions on how to do the transfer with the Connector that came with the phone and a lightning cable, as this should be even easier and faster than via the cloud. The cloud would be a great alternative is you don't an have an iphone anymore.

https://youtu.be/R0DP4AQys70
 

msp1518

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That's the exact video. Just watched. Twice. :)

I am considering the possibility of getting the Essential Phone later this summer since I really do want a VERY sturdy phone for traveling overseas. Android to Android should be easier from what you say. But from the video above I think this won't be hard and I just wish I had known about this earlier. I feel like a dunderhead. ;)
 

msp1518

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Just an update. Samsung Switch works like a charm.

Of course I am now returning my Verizon S8 since Samsung refuses to give any clarification on the trade-in program. Too much risk they will reject my iPhone 4 (which is in near mint condition). So I will wipe this phone and send it back.

I have purchased a new one from someone at Swappa for $598 shipped. That's just a little bit more than I paid for the same phone through Samsung, so fine.

And NOW I know exactly how to migrate from the get-go.