Switching phones-Transfering apps?

[cre8tivspirit]

So with the coming of the Lumia 900 to at&t, I am faced with the question how do I transfer my apps and other information from the my original Samsung Focus the the new phone. Contacts and email are not really a concern. Neither is my music and pictures. I'm more concerned with apps. I have heard that apps purchased through Zune will come over to the new phone just fine but apps bought through the phone will not. This is a concern for me since most of the apps on my phone were purchased through my phone. I don't think I bought any apps through Zune at all.

Am I screwed or is there a solution to this?

 

[IceCrush]

I think you can transfer them all using the marketplace website through desktop, not sure though

 

[GB330033]

So with the coming of the Lumia 900 to at&t, I am faced with the question how do I transfer my apps and other information from the my original Samsung Focus the the new phone. Contacts and email are not really a concern. Neither is my music and pictures. I'm more concerned with apps. I have heard that apps purchased through Zune will come over to the new phone just fine but apps bought through the phone will not. This is a concern for me since most of the apps on my phone were purchased through my phone. I don't think I bought any apps through Zune at all.

Am I screwed or is there a solution to this?

You'll be able to re-download all of them, but only ones that were bought via Zune will come back automatically. At least, that's how it used to be.

However, the big concern might be app data. When you switch phones, even though you can re-download any apps, all of your app data will be gone. That means any progress you've made in any games is gone. If you're a phone gamer, I'd suggest keeping your old phone around until you can finish up whatever you've been playing lately and then start any new games on your 900.

 

[dfb8085]

so does this mean the ones of us who are not already WP7 users but may move over do not have a current need for Zune? sorry for all the questions but I have no working knowledge of WP7 at all.

 

[jimski]

so does this mean the ones of us who are not already WP7 users but may move over do not have a current need for Zune? sorry for all the questions but I have no working knowledge of WP7 at all.

Zune is needed to sync media (music, photos, video) between PC and phone. It is also the portal for OS and Firmware updates. So you don't need it if you don't have a WP, but it is a pretty good app for managing your music collection by itself.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

 

[dtboos]

Full online backups & sync's coming later this year with Apollo. For now, unfortunately you have to redownload the apps.

The good news is its not that bad, and there is an app called "reinstaller" in the market. Download that first, then connect to live and it pulls down your history. Then check the boxes on ones you want to redownload and go through them. You still have to click "install" for each one, but its waaaay faster than searching for each, and even faster than doing from the website in my experience.

You can also do from Windows Phone | Cell Phones, Mobile Downloads, Mobile Apps, and More | Windows Phone 7 if you go to your account and history. You can send them one by one to your phone.

And yes, any installations from the Zune desktop client will automatically install on your phone when you sync it.

 

[cre8tivspirit]

Full online backups & sync's coming later this year with Apollo. For now, unfortunately you have to redownload the apps.

The good news is its not that bad, and there is an app called "reinstaller" in the market. Download that first, then connect to live and it pulls down your history. Then check the boxes on ones you want to redownload and go through them. You still have to click "install" for each one, but its waaaay faster than searching for each, and even faster than doing from the website in my experience.

You can also do from Windows Phone | Cell Phones, Mobile Downloads, Mobile Apps, and More | Windows Phone 7 if you go to your account and history. You can send them one by one to your phone.

And yes, any installations from the Zune desktop client will automatically install on your phone when you sync it.

I gotta say, I'm surprised that full backups and syncs aren't available already. I understood when the very first phones came out but there have been new phones since and it would have been nice to be able to backup and restore apps and their data.

 

[cre8tivspirit]

I'm not a huge phone gamer but I don't really relish redoing Angry Birds and restarting my Bug Village (addictive as **** BTW). Everything else I can live with.

 

[selfcreation]

back up is coming in Apollo. for the cloud service.

 

[dtboos]

I gotta say, I'm surprised that full backups and syncs aren't available already. I understood when the very first phones came out but there have been new phones since and it would have been nice to be able to backup and restore apps and their data.

Yah its a pretty universal complaint. Kind of understandable since they were obviously moving towards a full sync / different direction with WinPhone 8 / Windows 8, but they still should have implemented SOMETHING in the zune until then. Oh well.....something I'll deal with for now but one of those things you wonder about the "why?". Like no smart dialing ;p

 

[Major]

As mentioned above, the Reinstaller app makes the app re-installation process slightly less painful. Actual data will be lost, unless the app has its own backup function (for instance, Better Movie Manager).

 

[yeewiz]

just wondering, so if you download all your apps to your new phone, and then hand-me-down the old phone to your daughter, what happens to the apps on the old phone?

 

[dtboos]

just wondering, so if you download all your apps to your new phone, and then hand-me-down the old phone to your daughter, what happens to the apps on the old phone?

If you leave the phone setup with your account and dont reset the phone or remove anything? Nothing. But that phone will still be tied to your account instead of hers.

If you want her to have her own phone, then a simple reset and she can setup the phone with her own microsoft account (live/hotmail) and download her own apps.

 

[yeewiz]

oh, that's right, my Live ID would still be on that phone. even with her own ID on a family plan, I'd still end up paying for her apps if they're billed through the carrier