WhatsApp brings iOS-to-Android chat migration to Pixels and new phones

New smartphones that ship with Android 12 and all Pixel phones from Google will receive support for WhatsApps function to transfer chat history from iOS to Android. This feature was already available for Samsung Galaxy phones.

The migration feature is now available on all Pixel smartphones and is coming soon to new phones that ship with Android 12, Google writes. The company writes emphatically that only new phones that get Android 12 from the factory will receive support for the migration function, in addition to all Pixel phones. Google tells The Verge that it is working with smartphone manufacturers to enable the migration feature on smartphones that are being upgraded to Android 12.

To transfer chat history, users need to pair an iPhone and Android phone using a Lightning to USB-C cable. After that, using the Android smartphone on the iPhone, they can scan a QR code to open WhatsApp and copy all conversations, media “and more” to the Android phone. Google and WhatsApp emphasize that data cannot be intercepted during the transfer. Users will also not receive any new messages while copying.

Samsung smartphones have already received the migration function. This was announced in August. For Samsung phones, Android 10 is enough to migrate the chats from iPhone phones. WhatsApp wants to make the migration function available for multiple platforms, which could make the migration from Android to iOS possible, for example. However, the company has not yet disclosed concrete details about this.