14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that WhatsApp was planning to make the transition from an iPhone to Android and the other way around much smoother, and now it looks like the company is very likely to completing the rollout of such capabilities.
The Facebook-owned service originally released a tool to migrate the chat history from iPhone to Samsung Galaxy phones a few weeks ago, and now WABetaInfo has discovered that a feature to go from Android to iPhone is also in the works.
For the time being, however, there’s no ETA as to when this option to transfer chat history to Apple’s devices could go live for users, but given it’s already in beta builds, it shouldn’t take too long before it happens anyway.
WhatsApp admits this is one of the most popular feature requests, though the company hasn’t provided a calendar to share timing details with users.
“One of the most requested features we’ve had is to make it possible to transfer chat history from one operating system to another when switching phones. We’ve been hard at work with operating system and device manufacturers to build it in a secure and reliable way,” it said.
Still in the works
When moving chats from iPhone to Android, users need to pair the two devices using a cable, so it’ll be interesting to see if the whole thing works the same way in the other direction too.
“When you set up a new device, you’ll be provided with the option to securely transfer your chats from your old device to your new one. This process will require a USB-C to Lightning cable,” WhatsApp said about the method of transferring chats from iPhone to Android.
Most likely, only certain versions of Android will be supported by the new feature.