How to transfer WhatsApp chats from iPhone to Android or vice versa

Both iOS and Android offer us many options to avoid losing data as long as we are on the same platform. The backups in iCloud or in our Google account makes going from one Android to another or from one iPhone to another is a child's play and that we do not lose all the content that our previous smartphone had to be able to continue with the new one as if nothing would have happened. But ¿what happens when we want to go from iPhone to Android or from Android to iPhone?

In this case things change radically. The application in question may have its own servers to save the data and that it is compatible with both Android and iOS, as is the case with Telegram, and then the change will be imperceptible, but if not, as with WhatsApp, the reality is that it will be difficult not to lose all our chats and photos when going from iOS to Android or vice versa. But there are ways to achieve it and here we tell you the best ones..

WhatsApp itself to the rescue

Luckily, there are times when a company creates tools or tutorials to perform certain tasks that would otherwise be much more difficult. Currently, the official WhatsApp information explains both how to transfer information from an iPhone to an Android phone and do the reverse.

How to transfer WhatsApp chats from iPhone to Android

Although it is not the path that many of us want to take, at the same time switch from an iPhone to an Android We will transfer account information, profile photo, chats – both individual and groups -, communities, channels, chat history and multimedia files. What is not included are call history, display name, statuses or multimedia files received through the channels. It is also not possible to transfer WhatsApp Business chats.

Although it may work in other configurations, Only Android 12 is officially supported or higher and Samsung and Pixel devices. In the case of the South Korean giant brand, Samsung Smart Switch version 3.7.22.x or later is required, and in the case of the Pixel the Google data restoration tool. A USB-C to USB-C/Lightning cable will also be required, as a physical connection between both phones is required. The steps to follow would be like this:

1. On the Android device, we restore factory settings.
2. We complete the configuration on the new device.
3. On the new device, when prompted, make sure to select the option to restore data to the device.
4. We unlock the iPhone.
5. We connect the devices with the USB-C to USB-C/Lightning cable when the "Copy applications and data" screen appears. If the iPhone shows the security warning, we tap on "Trust."
6. We continue with the screens that assist us during copying.
7. You must ensure that the iPhone remains unlocked during the transfer. One way to achieve this is to play with your finger up and down the screen, and another is to configure another blocking time from the settings.
8. When prompted, we use the iPhone's camera app to scan the QR code and open WhatsApp for iOS to export the data.
9. We complete the transfer and disconnect on cable.
10. Finally, we open WhatsApp on the Android device and log in with the same phone number that we used on the previous device.

If it's a Samsung phone, the process is quite similar, but it's done with the Samsung Smart Switch app.

How to transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to iPhone

If we are going to change from an Android phone to an iPhone, we can transfer account information, profile photo, chats - individual and groups -, communities, channels, chat history, multimedia files and settings. We will also not be able to transfer call history, display name, channel multimedia or anything related to WhatsApp Business.

In order to start the process, the Android version must be Lollipop with SDK 21 or later, or Android 5+. The iPhone must have iOS 15.5 or later. The process will be carried out through the application Move to iOS available on Google Play, and it would look like this:

1. We open the Move to iOS application on the Android phone.
2. A code will be displayed on the iPhone, and when prompted we have to enter that same code on the Android phone.
3. We tap on "Continue" and follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
4. On the “Transfer data” screen, we tap on “WhatsApp”.
5. Subsequently, we tap on “START” on the Android phone and wait for the messaging application to prepare the data for export. When the process is finished, the session on the Android phone will be closed and we can continue.
6. We touch "NEXT" to return to the "Move to iOS" application, still on the Android phone.
7. We tap “CONTINUE” to transfer data from Android phone to iPhone and wait for the “Move to iOS” app to confirm that the transfer is complete.
8. We install the most recent version of WhatsApp from the Apple Store. This is not always necessary, but it is recommended. We will ensure that all patches, including some that may make transfers easier, are now available.
9. We open WhatsApp and log in with the same number that we used on the previous device.
10. When prompted, we tap “Start” and wait for the process to complete. When the activation is completed we will be able to see all the messages.

Unofficial options for older equipment

Not all of us are lucky enough to have a state-of-the-art iPhone, not even one that continues to receive support. The above is the best to transfer chats from an iPhone to Android and vice versa, but on devices that do not have the necessary functions you can use applications such as the following:

Tenorshare iCareFone

The process to transfer WhatsApp chats from an iPhone to an Android, or vice versa, can become more or less complex, depending on the application we use. The guys from Tenorshare put at our disposal the iCareFone application, an application that, in addition to allowing us transfer WhatsApp data from one mobile platform to another, it also allows us to transfer images from our iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to our computer in addition to iTunes, copy music, books and images to our device, delete applications ... all without having to use iTunes at any time

Passing the WhatsApp data from your iPhone or to an Android phone, with iCareFone is a very simple (important) and fast process (the steps to follow), since the final duration will depend on the amount of images and videos that we have stored in our WhatsApp account of our device. The process it is exactly the same for both operating systems.

Once we have run the application iCarePhone, we have to connect both devices, the source and the destination to our computer and through the application select which will be the source of the data (from which terminal we want to extract the data) and the destination terminal (to which terminal we want to copy them). Once established, click on Transfer (in our case, we are going to transfer WhatsApp chats from an iPhone 6s to a Samsung Galaxy).

Once we click on the Transfer button, the application will take care of make a copy of all the data to our computer, including all attachments and will create a restore file that will restore, forgive the redundancy, the target device.

As I have commented in previous paragraphs, depending on the information we have in our copy of WhatsApp, the process may take more or less time. During all the process, We must not disconnect any of the terminals from the computer that are part of the process if we do not want the process to not be carried out correctly.

iCareFone is available for both Windows as for macOS.

dr.fone

To carry out this complicated task we can find very different methods on the internet, most of which are very complicated and do not work, or in the best of cases they only do so partially. Of all the options tried, the one that gave me the best results was the Windows and Mac application «dr. fone »and Tenorshare iCareFone that you can download from this link and that you can try for free. It is an application that does much more than transfer your messages from iOS to Android, but in this article what interests us is precisely that, so we will focus on that feature.

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Once the application is downloaded on our computer, we will execute it and connect the two devices through their respective USB cables to the Mac or PC. We must accept all messages requiring permissions that appear to us, especially on the Android device where the necessary software will be installed. so that everything works as it should. Once everything is ready, we will proceed to enter the section that interests us: "Backup and restoration".

In the next window we select in the left sidebar the option "Backup and restore WhatsApp", and the different options that we can execute related to the Messaging application will appear. In this case we choose the first one: «Transfer WhatsApp messages».

Our two devices will then appear, the data source on the left and the receiver on the right. This detail is important because we must make sure that they are placed in the right place, since the device on the right, the one that will receive the data, will lose all the WhatsApp information it had to restore the new one. If the order is not correct, click on the central button «Flip». Once we have confirmed that the original device is on the left and the destination is on the right, we can click on the «Transfer» button.

It is a procedure that takes several minutes, so be patient, and even if you think that the application has been blocked, wait for it to finish. Once the transfer is complete, we must go to our destination device and follow the steps indicated. WhatsApp will appear to us as if we had just installed it, and we will even have to configure our phone number in it. At the point it will be necessary to restore the data that is stored in our internal memory, as WhatsApp itself will tell us, so that all the data that we have transferred from our iPhone is transferred to the new Android.

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It is a simple process with a couple of key points in which we must be careful not to lose information, but with these instructions you will not have the slightest problem to achieve it. ANDThe end result is that you will have all your WhatsApp messages in the new terminal, although it should be noted that it is not perfect, since the chats appear messy, and chats that you had archived will appear in between. But that is solved with a few minutes reorganizing your WhatsApp, and the important thing, which are the messages, photos and videos, will be untouchable.