WhatsApp is addressing one of its most annoying deficiencies, the Facebook-owned company today used Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event to announce it is adding the ability to let users move their chat history when they switch from iOS to Android. The feature will be coming first to Samsung’s newly released Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 and other Samsung phones “in the coming weeks.”
WhatsApp allows chat history to be restored from cloud storage if you turn on its back feature, however, iOS devices store these backups on iCloud while Android devices store them on Google Drive, this has made it impossible to transfer chat the history between the two operating systems.
Related: WhatsApp Debuts ‘View Once’ Disappearing Photos and Videos
Now that the feature has been enabled, chat histories can be moved from iOS devices to Android using a Lightning to USB-C cable. The backups will include all voice notes, photos and all chats. The feature will be made possible for iOS and all Android devices in the future but the exact period is not yet known.
WhatsApp tells The Verge’s Jon Porter that if the new feature is used to migrate chat history from the iOS to Android devices and then back it up, it will overwrite the two separate cloud backups you had on these devices if you’ve previously migrated between the iOS and Android operating systems.
WhatsApp refused to disclose when the feature will be coming to non-Samsung phones. But it promised other Samsung devices running Android 10 and up will get the feature “in the coming weeks.”