Android users can relate to the hassle that accompanied their endeavours to transfer their WhatsApp chat history from the Android to their newly-bought iPhone. Many have even asked the company to do something about it, and their pleas have now been heard.
WhatsApp is (finally) giving users the ability to transfer not just their chats but also their chat history, photos, videos, and voice messages from their Android device to iPhone. And there is no hassle involved in this – they can simply use Apple’s “Move to iOS” app to do so.
While this much-requested feature is rolling out in beta today, it will take about a week to reach the millions of WhatsApp users across the globe, so you will have to prolong your wait.
So far, Android users had the ability to transfer their chats from iPhone to Android, which it launched last year.
“We’re adding to WhatsApp the ability to securely switch between phones and transfer your chat history, photos, videos and voice messages between Android and iPhone while maintaining end-to-end encryption,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a Facebook post.
“This is a top requested feature. We launched the ability switch from iPhone–>Android last year and now adding Android–>iPhone as well,” he added.
The current development also serves as the sequel to the Meta-owned messaging service had announced the chat history transfer feature between iPhone and Android mobiles last September, though no timeline was provided for the Android to iPhone transfer feature.
This may sound too good to be true, and it is, but it does not come without any caveats. The transfer of chat history, photos, and more from Android to iPhone will work only on new iPhones or factory reset ones.
WhatsApp assures users that the transferred data is not sent to cloud storage until the user creates an iCloud backup, and the company cannot see the transferred data, so your privacy is protected.
The Android device will continue to hold on to your data until WhatsApp is uninstalled from the phone or you factory reset the device. Additionally, you need to be running Android 5 or above on your Android device and iOS 15.5 on your iPhone.
You also need to make sure that WhatsApp iOS version 2.22.10.70 or above is installed on the iPhone, and the Android version of WhatsApp is version 2.22.7.74 or above. The same phone number should be used in both handsets, and both devices must be connected to a power source and the same Wi-Fi network.
With that out of the way, we come to the most important and anticipated part – how to actually do the transfer, since it is not as simple as pressing a button.
- First open the “Move to iOS” app on your Android device and follow the on-screen prompts. Once this is done, you will see a code displayed on the iPhone, which you need to enter on your Android device. Follow this by clicking on “Continue” and following the on-screen prompts.
- You will be taken to a “Transfer Data” screen, where you need to select “WhatsApp” and tap “Start” on the Android device. Wait for WhatsApp to prepare the data for export, following which you will be signed out from your Android phone.
- Click on “Next” to return to the “Move to iOS” app, then select “Continue” to transfer the data from the Android to the iPhone. Wait for the “Move to iOS” app to confirm the completion of the transfer, and then install the newest version of WhatsApp.
- Log in using the same phone number used on the Android device, and a prompt will appear telling you to click on “Start” to allow the process to be completed.
