WhatsApp chat transfer b/w iOS and Android now live, but there is a catch

At the Samsung Unpacked event last night, the company revealed a wide range of new hardware including the new foldables, Galaxy Watch 4, and Galaxy Buds 2. To our surprise, it also casually showcased the presence of WhatsApp chat transfer between iOS and Android. It is a much-anticipated feature since up until now if you switched from an iPhone to an Android phone, or vice versa, then you either had to just give up on your chat history or trust third-party apps and take complicated steps. All of this is changing now.

WhatsApp announced that it will be rolling out the chat transfer between iOS and Android feature at the Galaxy Unpacked on August 11. Samsung showcased it in their presentation and used it to migrate their chat history from iPhones to Samsung phones. The catch, for users, is that the new WhatsApp chat transfer feature will be limited to Samsung foldables at the time of launch. It seems like Samsung is targeting the iPhone user base, which didn’t want to change OS just because of the fear of losing their chats on WhatsApp. As per WhatsApp, the new feature will soon be available for both iOS and Android and will work in both directions.

If you choose to switch mobile operating systems, WhatsApp chat transfer between iOS and Android will allow you to move your entire WhatsApp chat history — including voice notes, photos, and conversations — in a seamless and secure way. For the unaware, a user’s chat history is end-to-end encrypted on their own device. Hence, moving their chats to a different OS was technically tough. However, WhatsApp says that it has worked with the world's largest handset makers and operating system makers to counter this and make its chat transfer feature work seamlessly.

It will be especially useful for people who have been wanting to switch from iPhone to Android or vice versa, but feared losing their WhatsApp chats. "The feature will be available to users of both Android and iOS systems — which means that people will be able to switch from both Android to iOS, and from iOS to Android. It will start to roll out on Android initially, and on Samsung's newest Galaxy phones to start. Users will be able to take their WhatsApp history from iOS to an Android device, and will subsequently be able to do the same on iOS devices."