One of the biggest hurdles for customers looking to switch between Android and iOS is their inability to transfer their WhatsApp chats between the two different ecosystems. Now, that's coming to an end, as WhatsApp has officially announced that it will easily allow users to transfer their chats between Android and iOS.
As reported first by Engadget, WhatsApp used airtime during Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event to announce the new feature. WhatsApp tested the feature for the past few weeks and said it was difficult to implement due to "end-to-end encryption," requiring added assistance to make it work.
The feature will first arrive on Android devices, specifically Samsung smartphones, allowing users to initially transfer chats from iOS to Samsung smartphones. The transfer will include the chat itself, photos, videos, and voice memos, and should be available to Samsung users in the "coming weeks." WhatsApp has not said when the feature will arrive for a wider range of WhatsApp devices and on iOS.
If you've been following iPhone rumors over the last few years, you may remember reading reports that Apple flirted with the idea of introducing a super high-end "Ultra" model that would either replace its Pro Max device or sit above it in Apple's smartphone hirearchy. These reports appeared in the pre-launch iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 rumor cycles, but ultimately came to nothing. Now though, the...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay.
Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for.
Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
Apple today launched a new app called Surveyor, which is designed to allow users to collect data like images of street signs and roadside details to improve Apple Maps.
The app is not public facing and appears to be for use with companies that Apple partners with to assign mapping tasks. Downloading the app and opening it up directs users to "Open Partner App" to choose a task. Tapping on...
Saturday March 15, 2025 10:50 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device.
Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
Apple is reassuring employees on the Siri team who may be feeling demotivated by the recent Siri delays and the bad press surrounding the company's decisions, reports Bloomberg.
In a Siri team meeting, Apple senior director Robby Walker acknowledged that employees might be feeling "angry, disappointed, burned out and embarrassed" following the Siri delay, but he praised the hard work of...
Thursday March 13, 2025 4:02 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple made a major misstep with the way that it handled the delay of Apple Intelligence features for Siri, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. Announcing the delay through a press statement was a bad decision, and Apple should instead have gone through official channels.
Kuo referenced the well-known "Antennagate" PR crisis when the iPhone 4 launched in 2010, and the way that then Apple...
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more.
While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited.
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...
I'm rolling my eyes so hard at WhatsApp getting features today to fix issues that Telegram never had because it had good multiple device support from the start. Not to mention WhatsApp has always done things in a clunky manner, such as the desktop app relaying everything through your phone. It's sad that it has such a large user base making it hard for people to move to something better.
One of the biggest hurdles for customers looking to switch between Android and iOS is their inability to transfer their WhatsApp chats between the two different ecosystems. Now, that's coming to an end, as WhatsApp has officially announced that it will easily allow users to transfer their chats between Android and iOS.
As reported first by Engadget ('https://www.engadget.com/whatsapp-import-chat-history-android-ios-144745811.html'), WhatsApp used airtime during Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event to announce the new feature. WhatsApp tested the feature for the past few weeks and said it was difficult to implement due to "end-to-end encryption," requiring added assistance to make it work.
The feature will first arrive on Android devices, specifically Samsung smartphones, allowing users to initially transfer chats from iOS to Samsung smartphones. The transfer will include the chat itself, photos, videos, and voice memos, and should be available to Samsung users in the "coming weeks." WhatsApp has not said when the feature will arrive for a wider range of WhatsApp devices and on iOS.
Article Link: WhatsApp Rolling Out Ability to Transfer Chats Between iOS and Android ('https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/11/whatsapp-transfer-between-android-ios/')
Ahhh! Making the transition very easy. I’m sure it will benefit both IOS and Android software.
That’s weird; I’ve been able to do this since 2014 with Telegram with zero effort thanks to its secure and encrypted cloud backups. WhatsApp still doesn’t do this? ?
Oh. My. God. I tried transferring Whatsapp messages from my grandma’s old Motorola to her new iPhone using 3rd party software; it cost me three hours, €30, it didn’t work and all data was lost with no recovery possible.
Now they’re rolling this out. But it’s just for one specific kind of transfer and one brand. Great work guys!
('https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/11/whatsapp-transfer-between-android-ios/')
