KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 ― Google’s Data Restore Tool is a built-in app that helps Android users transfer data from their old smartphones to their current devices. A new update soon will allow users to seamlessly transfer WhatsApp chats and media from iOS devices to Android devices. The Data Restore Tool first started out as a preinstalled app for Android devices, and it was recently listed on the Google Play Store.
It has never been easy to transfer WhatsApp chats across different smartphone platforms. Despite WhatsApp testing a multi-device sync feature of up to 4 devices, only one smartphone can be connected to one WhatsApp account at a time.
The reason why moving chats between platforms is difficult is due to the fact that WhatsApp chat backups are stored on iCloud for iOS users, while Android users’ chats are backed up on Google Drive.
A common method for migrating chats from iOS to Android involved exporting your entire iOS chat history via several emails, downloading them on your Android device, and then reinstalling WhatsApp on it so you can restore the old chats. It’s a tedious process.
Fortunately, with the Data Restore Tool, users don’t have to worry about long-winded chat export methods. Simply open the app on your Android device and under the “Transfer WhatsApp chats” section, a QR code should appear. You would be able to instantly scan it using your iPhone which will take you to WhatsApp’s data migration settings.
WhatsApp is currently working on a tool to migrate chats between different platforms, according to WABetaInfo. Once it is ready, you could manually go to WhatsApp’s Settings on your iOS, click “Chats” and there will be a “Move Chats to Android” button.
Now that transferring WhatsApp chats from iOS to Android is about to get much more convenient, this could mean iOS users might be able to migrate other types of data through the Data Restore Tool without having to go through platforms like Google Drive or the SHAREit app for instance. ― SoyaCincau
