New WhatsApp feature: You can now transfer chat history between iOS and Android phones - Here's how

This new feature transfers chat histories using a physical Lightning to USB-C cable rather than sending them via the internet.

Facebook-owned popular messaging app WhatsApp will soon allow users to transfer their chat history, including all voice notes, photos, and conversations if they switch their device from iOS to Android. 

According to a report in The Verge, this feature, most awaited by WhatsApp users, was announced, on Wednesday, during Samsung's launch event. The feature will initially cover transfers from iOS to the company's new Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 and other Samsung phones "in the coming weeks."

Reports state that this long-awaited feature will soon cover all transfers between iOS and Android phones, though it's still unclear when it'll be available for all devices.

The new feature should help address one of WhatsApp's most frustrating elements, which is that it's never been officially possible to transfer chat history between mobile operating systems.

If you choose to use WhatsApp's cloud backup feature, then iOS chat histories are stored in iCloud, while Android's are in Google Drive, meaning it's only possible to transfer your chats between phones running the same operating system.

This new feature transfers chat histories using a physical Lightning to USB-C cable rather than sending them via the internet. Unfortunately, if you've transferred between iOS and Android in the past and have two separate cloud backups, the new transfer feature won't merge them into a single chat history.

WhatsApp has said that the new feature will allow transfers from iOS to Samsung's new foldable at first, and it will allow transfers to Samsung devices running Android 10 and up "in the coming weeks."

The company declined to say when the feature might arrive for non-Samsung Android phones or when it'll allow Android to iOS transfers, The Verge report said.

Source: DNA