WhatsApp may be working on chat migration feature between Android and iOS

WhatsApp
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Alex Ruhl)

WhatsApp chat backups are pretty convenient things which allow users to retain their chats and data when switching phones. While this works out well when changing from one Android phone to another or from one iOS device to another, users still can't get their chat backups from Android to iOS or the other way. 

This has been a big issue and users for a while now have been asking for cross platform backups. And it seems like WhatsApp developers have been looking into this problem and want to bring a fix for it. 

According to a report from Wabetainfo, the developers have been working on the feature to allow users to migrate chat history from WhatsApp for iOS to WhatsApp for Android and vice versa. This will be introduced in a future version of WhatsApp but there is no timeline available for this currently. 

In fact, the report does not even mention a build number of the update which might come with this feature. But it does mention to keep your WhatsApp version updated from App Store or TestFlight. And it also says that both the versions of WhatsApp on the Android device as well as the iOS device need to be the same in order for this feature to work. 

Speaking on chat updates, besides the present leak, the last report suggested that the developers might soon allow you to make password-protected encrypted backups in the cloud to keep your chats secure.

WhatsApp caused controversy with its recent changes in the upcoming changes to privacy policies, but one thing security-minded users have become used to is the idea of end-to-end encryption. 

But there's one area where WhatsApp falls down when it comes to end-to-end encryption, and that's when backing up chats. With the system that's now in development, users will be able to select their own password to encrypt cloud backups so no one other than the account holder will be able to access them.

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Bodhisatwa Ray

Hardcore gamer, gadget enthusiast & cinema buff | Gaming, tech correspondent & reviewer at TechRadar