How your game progress moves to a new phone depends on where the game saves it. Games tied to an account, either their own login or your Apple or Google account, restore when you sign in on the new phone. Games that save only on the device come across only if you restore a full backup of your old phone onto the new one, and they usually can’t move between iPhone and Android at all. Check each game before you wipe or trade in the old phone.
The three ways mobile games save progress #
| Save type | How it moves to a new phone | iPhone to Android? | Typical games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game account | Sign in with the same username or ID | Often yes | Online and competitive games, Geometry Dash (RobTop account) |
| Platform cloud save | Sign in with the same Apple or Google account | No, it stays on one platform | Games that offer iCloud or Google Play Games saves |
| Local only | Only through a full device backup and restore | No | Many offline and arcade games |
The first type is the safest. The last type is where people lose years of progress.
Before you wipe your old phone #
- Open each game you care about and look in its settings for “Link account,” “Cloud save,” “Sign in with Apple,” “Sign in with Google,” or “Save to cloud.” If the option exists, use it.
- Write down usernames and player IDs, or screenshot the profile screen. Support teams often ask for them.
- Update your games and let them sync while you’re on Wi-Fi.
- Make a fresh full backup of the old phone (steps below).
- Keep the old phone until you’ve checked that the games on the new one have your progress.
iPhone to iPhone: Quick Start or iCloud backup #
The simplest route is to set up the new iPhone next to the old one with Quick Start, which copies your data directly. The other option is to restore from an iCloud backup:
- On the old iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then iCloud > iCloud Backup, and tap Back Up Now.
- Turn on the new iPhone and follow setup until you reach Apps & Data (or “Transfer Your Apps & Data”).
- Choose From iCloud Backup, sign in, and pick the latest backup.
A restore brings back apps along with the data they stored on the phone, including local game saves, as long as that app was included in the backup. Re-downloading a game from the App Store on its own doesn’t bring its local data back. Apple walks through the steps in its guide to transferring to a new iPhone.
Android to Android: Google backup #
Android phones back up to your Google account. When you set up a new Android phone and sign in with the same account, you can restore apps and their backed-up data.
For app data, Android uses a system called Auto Backup, and it has limits worth knowing (Android’s Auto Backup documentation):
- Each app gets up to 25 MB of backup space, which doesn’t count against your Google Drive storage.
- Backups run automatically when the phone is idle, charging and on Wi-Fi, roughly once a day.
- Only the most recent backup is kept.
- Developers can exclude files or opt out entirely, so not every game’s data is backed up.
That’s why many Android games rely on accounts. If a game’s save is small and the developer allows backups, it may restore on its own. If not, you start over.
Switching between iPhone and Android #
Moving between platforms is the hard case. Only progress tied to a game account moves across. Local saves and platform cloud saves stay behind, because iCloud and Google backups don’t restore into each other’s apps.
Purchases usually don’t carry over either. A game you paid for on the App Store normally has to be bought again on Google Play. Some games restore in-game purchases through their own account system, but many don’t. Check the game’s help page before you switch.
Cross-play, cross-platform and cross-progression #
These three terms get mixed up:
- Cross-platform means a game is available on more than one platform.
- Cross-play means players on different platforms can play together. Stumble Guys, for example, lets iPhone, Android and Steam players compete in the same rounds.
- Cross-progression means your progress follows you between platforms. Geometry Dash ties progress to a RobTop account, so you can move between iPhone, Android and PC without losing your levels.
A game can have cross-play without cross-progression, so don’t assume one means the other.
How Flappy Kittens saves your progress #
Flappy Kittens (Flappy Cat on Google Play) saves your high score, fish and collected cats locally on your phone. There’s no account and no cloud sync. The upside is that it needs no login and works fully offline. The downside is that moving to a new phone depends on your device backup. An iPhone-to-iPhone transfer or an Android-to-Android restore may bring your progress along, but switching between iPhone and Android means starting fresh. Screenshot your best score before you switch, and see our Flappy Kittens tips to get back to it quickly.
Frequently asked questions #
Does deleting a game delete my progress? #
If the game saves locally, yes. Deleting the app deletes its data from the phone, although an old device backup may still contain it. If the game uses an account or cloud save, your progress waits on the server and comes back when you sign in again.
How do I restore game progress after reinstalling? #
For account-based games, sign in with the same account. For games with Apple or Google cloud saves, make sure you’re signed in to the same Apple ID or Google account and that the game’s cloud option is on. Local-only saves can only come back through a device backup restore.
Can I transfer game purchases from iPhone to Android? #
Usually not. The App Store and Google Play are separate, so paid apps must be bought again. Some games let you recover in-game purchases through their own account, so check the game’s support page.
Why didn’t my game data come over to my new phone? #
The most common reasons are that the game only saves locally and the app wasn’t included in the backup, the backup was older than your latest progress, or you moved between iPhone and Android. Many offline games save locally, which is worth knowing before you choose offline games for the long haul. If you’re moving so you can play with friends on another platform, see mobile games to play with friends for cross-play picks.