WhatsApp rolls out chat transfer feature for iPhone users switching to Android

[MYGSMWORLD]

WhatsApp has started rolling out the chat transfer feature from iOS to Android for select users. The feature will come in handy for iPhone users looking to switch to an Android phone. iPhone users with iOS version 2.21.160.17 can check for the feature by going to Settings then Chats on WhatsApp. If the feature is live for users, they can see the ‘Move chats to Android’ option. The feature was first announced at the Samsung Unpacked event on August 11 and will initially be available to iPhone users migrating their chats to Samsung phones. Users can also email their chat history to themselves or enable their settings to save their chats on Google Drive or iCloud but these chats will not be restored on the new phone.

“Your WhatsApp messages belong to you. That's why they are stored on your phone by default, and not accessible in the cloud-like many other messaging services. We’re excited for the first time to make it easy for people to securely transfer their WhatsApp history from one operating system to another. This has been one of our most requested features from users for years and we worked together with operating systems and device manufacturers to solve it,” Sandeep Paruchuri, Product Manager at WhatsApp had earlier said.

WhatsApp noted that the feature will have the ability to move user’s entire WhatsApp chat history including voice notes, photos, and conversations in a seamless and secure way if users choose to switch mobile operating systems. However, the feature is not currently available on Android.

Last month, Google added a Data Restore Tool app that, as the name suggests, allows users to hold on to content from their old devices while setting up their new devices. The Data Restore Tool allows users to transfer apps, photos, contacts through a cable or cloud backup while setting up a device. As of now, the app version on PlayStore is 1.0.382048734, which could reportedly allow users to copy their WhatsApp chats and history from an iPhone to an Android phone. On PlayStore, notes that the “system app helps you to restore data from your old phone using a cable or a cloud backup. The app is already installed on your Android device.”

Source : India Today