“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,” noted Sandeep Paruchuri, product manager at WhatsApp, in a statement about the launch.
“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,” he added.
A long-requested feature for WhatsApp users will now be available: users will be able to move their entire chat history between smartphone operating systems.
When users switch between iOS and Android devices, they’ll be able to safely transfer their WhatsApp voice notes, photographs and conversations from one device to another.
However, there were no specifics on which devices would be first supported or when the feature would be launched.
Google Data Transfer Tool allows users to move files from one Android device to another, or from iOS to Android.
WhatsApp’s new functionality, however, is only compatible with Samsung handsets and Samsung’s own transfer tool, Smart Switch, which allows users to transfer data between Samsung devices.
In the present day, Smart Switch enables customers to move contacts and other data to their Samsung Galaxy devices. WhatsApp chat history is now also transferred.
Also read: WhatsApp is back with another update, “View Once”
It was unveiled during Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, where WhatsApp stated the capability would be available first on Samsung’s new Galaxy foldable devices.
The capability will be available to Android users in the future. Whatsapp did not specify when iOS users would be able to use the function, but according to a spokesman, the team is trying to make it available worldwide.
WhatsApp customers will need to connect their old and new devices through a USB-C to Lightning cable and launch Smart Switch to access the new feature, according to the company.
It will then ask you to scan a QR code with your old phone and export your WhatsApp history to the new phone, which you can do. You’ll need to sign into WhatsApp on the new device to complete the transfer.
The business further claimed that building such a function was not straightforward because all messages sent and received through its service are end-to-end encrypted and kept on customers’ devices.
For WhatsApp, this meant that the development of a mechanism to migrate chat history between operating systems would involve additional work from the firm, as well as operating system and device vendors.
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