iPhone - Transferring Data to PC

[ameerat42]

Well, here's a thing. I have to help someone do a lot of transfers of data - both SMS, Contacts, etc, as well as
just pics taken, WhatsApps received, etc.

Now when it comes to Android phones I am set, and it's a cinch:
For all pics taken or received via WhatsApp etc, I just connect via USB and enable MTP transfer.

For all SMS, Contacts, Calendars..., I do the same connection, allow debugging, and use MyPhoneExplorer.

-- No trouble at all for Android

But for an iPhone I have not read anything that makes me feel confident So, how do you do it?
Ie, simple xfer of pics, etc on the one hand, and also xfer of SMS, MMS, Contacts, etc.

Ta in advance, or apologies if this is all Ελληνικά to you. (I reckon Ελληνικά is easier than iPhone-elese)

[bobt]

All I can offer is my sympathies. Apple is such a closed shop compared to Android, and i have the same issues with my wife's iPad. There must be a way, but there's no such thing as an easy way from my limited experience in achieving these sort of transfers!

[ameerat42]

Ta, Bob. I'll have a chance to look at this dratted iPhone in the next couple of days.
Surprisingly, one of the things I read about (hazy recollection here) seemed to be a
paid subscription to an Apple product that was essentially for file xfer

- - - Updated - - -

On this point here's another oddity. One of my phones is a Xiaomi Note 4.
Not a bad beast, boasting 64GB storage and dual SIM for a mere $200.
Less impressive is the camera, but...

Now the "however": the proprietrary SW, which is free, ONLY works with
Marshmallow. I am 0.1 of a version number shy of that, and so, no-go!

A "but" to the above "however": I can do anything I want with the free
MyPhoneExplorer

[arthurking83]

I can't stress enough the 'possible' importance of having backed up every sms, or text, or whatever from the phone, and then off the phone and stored somewhere else(secure, if required, or just safely backed up .. or whatever)

I've been a habitual 'backer upperer' basically from my hominid form 'homo slouchus', to my current form as 'homo-backerupperer' .. backed up data(mainly useless) from about 4 or 5 PC generations ago.
I transposed this habit once it was made easy and practical to do so from the phone(for me Android too, never used Blackberry, nor iOS).

A recent family debacle turned very nasty, with sibling X claiming she said this, and she did that ... and I had all the correspondence between us to prove she didn't say or do any of her recent claims.
The passage of time diluted the accuracy of her memory, court case(and associated costs) avoided ... etc, etc.

Originally, never meant to maintain backups of sms's for 10 odd years or so, but as it transpired, backing up the phone in it's entirety proved it's value recently.

I used to use Samsung's phone related software, and I can't remember it allowing sms backups, but it did do updates and transfers.

Few months back, I went from a cheapo Chinese phone(never again!!!) to a U-bute Galaxy S8+(cheaply), and I remember in doing the transfer thing(on the S8+) it had a way to do it direct from phone to phone(but both Android in my instance).
I do remember that it also had the option to do a iPhone to Android full backup too.

So it can be done(backup up iPhone data).

I don't remember or recall exactly the system on the S8+, so I dunno if it's a Samsung feature, or an later version Android feature.
My previous Android was 6.something, and the S8 was 8.something(I recently updated to 9.something).

Anyhow, have a quick squizz in your Android phone for a feature called Smart Switch, it's in the settings under Accounts/Backup.
If you don't see smart switch, maybe it's a later version Android thing, or maybe a Samsung thing.

*** ... scratch that! ... ***
Corse! .. should'a check before banging the keyboard!
Smart Switch is a Samsung thing(checked Play).

I'm thinking: if you had a spare phone that you could do a transfer such as that above(the Smart Switch thing), and it connected to iOS .. maybe you could get all that required data to a proper phone .. show the iOS phone user why Android is better(not to mention the many hardware related issues as well) .. and get them to use a proper phone once and for all.

[ameerat42]

Ta, will look, though going iPh > Samsung > PC doesn't sound too good in this day and age.

The person has apparently backed up pics before, but not "phone stuff".

[Jaded62]

Have a look at EaseUS Mobimover. SWMBO loves her iPhone but never backs it up so biannual phone upgrades are extremely stressful for tech support (me). I found this program very easy to use.

[ameerat42]

Hmm, ta for that. I saw it as I was ....ing but must have glossed over it.
It says [messages and contacts], so I'll give it a go...