You will soon be able to transfer WhatsApp chats between iOS and Android

If you switch from an iOS phone to Android or vice versa, you will currently lose all data from your conversations. That may change in the short term. Video material owned by WaBetaInfo shows how a WhatsApp backup is exchanged between iOS and Android devices with a cable.

Transfer WhatsApp backups

April was a magical month for WhatsApp users, with a first look at what presumably confirmed the arrival of a multi-device feature. A screenshot showed that, after a WhatsApp update, there would be a possibility to transfer WhatsApp chats from iOS to Android. Details on a feature that can transfer WhatsApp conversations from Android to iOS are still missing – even after new details that rumor-maker WaBetaInfo published in a Tweet.

It is striking that the tweet from the rumor maker this time does not contain a screenshot, but even a video of the function to transfer conversations from iOS to Android. The video shows that transferring the backups of conversations and files is done via a cable. Once the cable is attached and you click Start, the chat app will begin preparing to transfer calls.

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If the preparations are successful, the application says that you can continue setting up your new phone and later open the WhatsApp app on that device to restore conversations. It seems that WhatsApp allows the switch from iOS to Android via an app on the computer, but that is not yet completely certain. In addition, it is currently unknown why WhatsApp asks not to remove the cable from your device, as visible at the end of the video.

Multi-device is coming

With this feature, WhatsApp is an advance on the multi-device feature that the company confirmed in June. For multi-devices, it is intended that up to four devices can be linked to one WhatsApp number. In a ‘multi-device setup’ one phone can be used at a time; for other devices such as tablets and computers, no restrictions apply. With multi-device setups you cannot bundle both an Android phone and an iPhone.

This may have been a reason for making it easier to shift conversations, so that you can always use the right phone with this multi-device setup. In addition, this – transferring conversations between iOS and Android – was a feature that had been requested by the iOS and Android community for many years.

It is not yet known when WhatsApp will roll out the function to Android and iOS. WhatsApp may release the multi-device function and file transfer between the platforms in a major upgrade of the chat service. Earlier, Mark Zuckerburg, CEO of Facebook, announced that the multi-device features will be rolled out to the WhatsApp Beta within two months. Only later do the functions also appear in the stable version of WhatsApp for Android and iOS.