This has been a long time coming.
If you’ve been thinking about switching from Android to iPhone, you’re not alone. Many people have done so because to the amazing iPhone 13 Pro, which is a big reason why so many people have made the switch. Now that’s all changed.
Why? Because WhatsApp has just started rolling out the ability to transfer your WhatsApp data from Android to iPhone. That means that transferring phones won’t require reinstalling the Facebook-owned chat software or finding workarounds for third parties.
On June 14, at 9am ET/ 6am PT, the rollout will begin, and it will be available to all WhatsApp users within a week or so. However, the move to iOS app (opens in a new tab) offered by Apple in the Google Play store will include WhatsApp conversion.
As of now, Android users can transfer their contacts, messages and images and videos to their new iOS-based devices when they make the switch to Apple’s mobile operating system. Among the new features in Move to iOS is the ability to move data from Android to iOS via WhatsApp.
If you want to go from an Android phone running Android 5 or later to an iPhone running iOS 15.5, you’ll also need the latest versions of WhatsApp and Move to iOS.
Earlier this year, WhatsApp betas hinted at the possibility of a feature that would allow users to move their chat records from iPhones to Android devices.
“We’re adding to WhatsApp the ability to safely switch between phones and transfer your conversation history, images, videos, and voice chats between Android and iPhone while retaining end-to-end encryption,” Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a statement on his Facebook page.
It’s been requested a lot.” Last year, we introduced the ability to move from iPhone to Android, and now we’ve added the ability to switch from Android to iPhone as well.”
As a result of this functionality, WhatsApp has launched two FAQ pages, one for Android and one for iOS, where you can learn how to migrate data across the two operating systems (opens in new tab).
Apple’s upcoming flagship phones, the iPhone 14 and 15 due later this year, will undoubtedly be impacted by this shift. We may see Apple make a pitch for Android converts when the iPhone 14 Pro models are released in the fall, based on last week’s iOS 16 beta hinting strongly at an always-on display feature. It’s comforting to know that WhatsApp migration support will be available in the future.