It has long been sought feature by users around the world to enable the ability to transfer WhatsApp chats across iOS and Android. As part of the Galaxy Unpacked event last night, WhatsApp announced that cross-platform chat transfer is finally coming, but thereβs a catch. It might come as a disappointment to many, but the WhatsApp chat transfer option will initially only be available onΒ Samsungβs new foldable phones.
How to Transfer Whatsapp Chats across iOS and Android
WhatsApp chat migration on Samsung phones will be part of the companyβs Smart Switch tool. Smart Switch currently lets you transfer a variety of data from your old phone, including schedules, alarms, call logs, photos, and more. It will beΒ initially available only on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3.Β Support for other phones will come through 2021.
WANT TO SECURELY TAKE YOUR WHATSAPP HISTORY FROM ONE PLATFORM TO ANOTHER? WEβRE WORKING TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE STARTING WITHΒ @SAMSUNGMOBILEΒ DEVICES, AND ITβS COMING TOΒ @ANDROIDΒ AND IOS PHONES SOON.
β WILL CATHCART (@WCATHCART)Β AUGUST 11, 2021
To transfer WhatsApp chats from your iPhone to your Samsung phone,Β you will need to use a Lightning to USB-C cable. After connecting the two phones together, you can scan a QR code to migrate your WhatsApp chats. The feature supports iPhones running iOS 10.0 and above and Android phones with Android 10 or newer.
βWe are 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,βΒ said Sandeep Paruchuri, product manager at WhatsApp. This is what the WhatsApp chat transfer flow will look like:
While keeping a basic feature like chat migration behind an exclusivity window seems a bit unnecessary, itβs good to see that WhatsApp is finally allowing users to take their messages across platforms. Until it becomes generally available to all Android and iOS users, you will have to rely on third-party tools toΒ transfer WhatsApp data from iPhone to Android.