For die-hard WhatsApp fans, Android 12 makes itself a must-have OS

A few months ago, Samsung announced that its Galaxy Z devices can transfer your entire WhatsApp chat history and media from an old iPhone just via a wire. Now, Google has baked in this feature for its Pixel 6 devices and going forward, it will be rolled out to everyone. With the Android 12 update, all Android devices can copy an entire WhatsApp chat history and media from an iPhone -- something that was considered impossible months ago.

The transfer process is similar to the one Samsung demonstrated at its Galaxy Z Flip 3/ Fold 3 launch event. You will need to connect both devices via a USB-C to Lightning cable and wait for the magic to happen. You will need to scan a code and wait for the transfer to complete. Once done, your WhatsApp will be restored to your new Android phone.

Android 12 makes WhatsApp data transfer to Android easy

Google says that this data transfer happens securely within the two devices and no one else can access the chats or any of its data. Once the transfer process begins, WhatsApp will even stop receiving messages on the iPhone and will continue on the Android device.

Do note that this WhatsApp chat transfer only happens one way, i.e., from iOS to Android for now. WhatsApp still does not have any official way to transfer chat data from Android to iOS. Android-to-Android WhatsApp data transfers can be done by simply backing up all data with your Google account. The same process extends for an iPhone to iPhone transfer. There are third-party services and apps that facilitate data transfers between these two platforms too.

The process also requires you having a USB-C to Lightning cable, or a dongle based setup to carry on with the process. Currently on the Android 11-based Samsung devices, the data transfer takes a lot of time to transfer. It remains to be seen whether the process speeds up with Android 12.

As of now, Android 12 is available in its stable version on the Pixel devices. Most other Android manufacturers are currently testing the beta versions on their flagship offerings.