Seamless Switching: Moving Your WhatsApp From Android to iPhone with Ease

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WhatsApp announced its messaging app was recently updated with the ability to transfer your WhatsApp account and almost all of its history from an Android phone to an Apple iPhone.

Apple and WhatsApp worked together to bring the feature to Apple’s Move to iOS app. Technically, it’s still in beta right now, with WhatsApp saying it’ll take a week or two for it to fully roll out.

Below I’ll walk you through how to transfer your account and provide some extra details that you need to know before making the jump from Android to iPhone.

There are some requirements and caveats

Outside of having access to the feature, which can take a couple of weeks to reach your WhatsApp account, you’ll need to make sure you have the following:

Your Android phone running Android version 5 or newer. (Unless your phone is very, very old, this shouldn’t be an issue.)
Your new iPhone can’t be set up. When powered on, it should cycle through “Hello” in different languages.
The iPhone will need to be running iOS 15.5 or higher.
You’ll need the Move to iOS app installed on your Android phone.
Make sure your Android phone has the latest version of WhatsApp installed.

Finally, you’ll need to use the same phone number on both devices. In order for the encrypted account data to be accessed, you’ll need to use the same account number (your phone number) on both devices.

How to move WhatsApp from Android to iPhone

In the process of moving your WhatsApp account from your old Android phone over to a new iPhone, the Move to iOS app also moves the rest of the information you care about the most: Your text conversations, photos, and videos. It will even put a placeholder app icon on your iPhone’s home screen that you can tap on to install the app without having to open the App Store.

And, of course, it’ll transfer your WhatsApp account information, your profile photo, individual chats, group chats, chat history, pictures, videos, and settings. It won’t transfer over your call history or your display name.

1. Install the latest version of WhatsApp and Move to iOS

If you skipped past the requirement section above, make sure to install the latest version of WhatsApp on your Android phone along with the Move to iOS app from the Play Store.

2. Connect both devices to power and Wi-Fi

Jason Cipriani/ZDNet

Connect your Android phone and iPhone to the same Wi-Fi network, and connect both to power. The former requirement will facilitate the information transfer between the devices, while the latter will ensure neither one runs out of battery while the transfer process takes place.

3. Start the transfer process

Apple

Open the Move to iOS app on your Android phone and follow the prompts until you get to a screen asking for a passcode. Go through the initial setup screens on your iPhone, selecting your language and country. When you get to the Quick Start screen, select Set Up Manually. Connect the iPhone to the same Wi-Fi network as your Android phone. Continue to follow the prompts, setting up Face ID and creating a passcode when asked.

When you get to the Apps & Data screen select **Move Data from Android. Again, follow the prompts. Eventually you’ll be shown a one-time code. Enter that number on your Android phone, and then approve the connection.

On the Transfer Data screen, you’ll be asked to select what information you’d like to bring over to your iPhone. WhatsApp should be listed as one of the options; make sure you select it.

When you’re ready to begin the transfer process, tap the Start button. The transfer can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or longer. It all depends on how much data you need to transfer.

Once the transfer is complete, your WhatsApp account and the rest of the information you selected will be on your iPhone.

If you’re selling or trading in your old Android phone make sure you factory reset it after verifying all of your information and data is on your iPhone.

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Seamless Switching: Moving Your WhatsApp From Android to iPhone with Ease