Installing drawbridge

Installing on a new phone, or after a factory reset

The easiest case: there is nothing on the phone to move off it, and nothing you chose gets uninstalled. The one thing to get right is the accounts. Android only hands over this level of control to a phone with no account left on it, so skip the sign-in during setup and sign in at the end instead.

1. 1
   Go through Android's setup and skip signing in. If the phone is already past setup with accounts on it, choose the second situation in the menu above instead.

Skipping the sign-in during setup

2. 2
   Enable Developer Options (tap the build number in Settings → About phone several times) and turn on USB debugging.

Turning on USB debugging

3. 3
   Connect the phone to a computer with a USB cable, and press the install button below.

Apps the policy never allows still go, within minutes of the install. On a phone this new that means the manufacturer's preloaded social apps and games, and nothing you put there.

When the installer has finished, sign back in. Settings → Passwords, passkeys & accounts → Add account, for the Google account and for WhatsApp and Signal. Restore their backups from inside those apps.

Installing on a phone that is already in use

1. 1
   Move what you want to keep off the phone. Export bookmarks, save photos out of an app that holds them, write down what you are signed in to. The warning above says what goes.
2. 2
   Remove every account from the phone. Settings → Passwords, passkeys & accounts. Not only the Google ones. WhatsApp and Signal are accounts on this screen too, and they have to go with the rest: Android hands over this level of control only to a phone with nothing left in that list. Back up first what you would not want to lose. WhatsApp's chat backup and Signal's own backup are both made from inside those apps, before you remove the account here. You put the accounts back at the end.

Removing the accounts

3. 3
   Delete the Private Space, if the phone has one. Settings → Security & privacy → Private Space → Delete private space. Android refuses this level of control while any second profile exists, and a Private Space is hidden: it does not appear in the user switcher, and it needs its own PIN. Any other extra user is in Settings → System → Multiple users.
4. 4
   Enable Developer Options (tap the build number in Settings → About phone several times) and turn on USB debugging.

Turning on USB debugging

5. 5
   Connect the phone to a computer with a USB cable, and press the install button below.

When the installer has finished, sign back in. Settings → Passwords, passkeys & accounts → Add account, for the Google account and for WhatsApp and Signal. Restore their backups from inside those apps.

Updating a phone that already has drawbridge

There is an update button in drawbridge itself. Open the app on the phone and follow the instructions it gives you. It shows you what to do, with pictures. The phone can stay locked, and you do not need your key.

If that did not work, you can do it through the USB cable instead:

1. 1
   Unlock drawbridge on the phone with your key.
2. 2
   Turn USB debugging back on: Settings → System → Developer options.
3. 3
   Plug the phone in and press the install button below.

Turning on USB debugging

Unlocking discards your key, and locking the phone again mints a new one to write down. That is the cost of the cable, and the reason to try the button in the app first.