Question from Tabitha: I’ve had my current Android phone for four years and I love it, but I finally decided it was time to upgrade to take advantage of newer technology.
I haven’t decided on a new phone yet, but I know it’ll definitely be an Android.
The problem is I have several paid apps that I don’t want to lose when I switch phones.
How do I back up the apps from the old phone so that I can reinstall them on the new one?
By the way, I’ve been reading your blog for a long time and I know I can trust your answer. Thanks for taking the time to help so many of us solve our tech problems!
Rick’s answer: Thanks so much for your kind words, Tabitha. I appreciate them very much!
In regards to your question, there are some excellent apps available for backing up and restoring the apps on your Android phone. If you’d like to go that route you can simply open the Play Store app and search for the term app backup and you’ll find several to choose from.
Now that being said, you can easily install your paid apps on your new phone directly from the Google Play Store without having to pay for them again.
Simply log in to the Play Store with the new phone using the same Google account login credentials you use with your current phone, then download your apps onto the new phone from there.
Google will recognize that your apps have already been paid for and let you install them onto the new phone with no hassle at all.
And finally, your new Android phone can directly import your old phone’s data (contacts, text messages, etc.) in one easy step. This Google Support page explains how.
I hope this helps, Tabitha. Good luck with your new phone!