WhatsApp Launches New Feature

The Facebook-owned app has been under pressure for years to let users move their chat histories across platforms – between Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

Normally, you’d have to start from fresh when getting set up on an Android phone, even if you’d used WhatsApp on iPhone for years.

But a new tool lets you move your entire chat history from iPhone to new Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

This includes voice notes, photos and conversations.

And WhatsApp says it can preserve end-to-end encryption throughout the process.

“Your WhatsApp messages belong to you,” said WhatsApp’s Sandepp Paruchuri.

“That’s why they are stored on your phone by default, and not accessible in the cloud like many other messaging services.

“We’re excited for the first time to make it easy for people to securely transfer their WhatsApp history from one operating system to another.

“This has been one of our most-requested features from users for years, and we worked together with operating systems and device manufacturers to solve it.”

WhatsApp says it eventually plans to expand the scheme beyond moving from iPhone to Samsung phones.

It will roll out to other Android phones, and will eventually let you switch to iPhone too.

Of course, quitting your iPhone isn’t always the best idea.

We recently revealed how cyber-experts thing Apple phones are generally safer.

And moving your WhatsApp messages across isn’t the only hurdle you’ll need to clear.

You also have to redownload or repurchase any apps you’ve bought, as the Apple App Store and Google Play Store are separate entities.

And if you’re used to enjoying Apple iMessage or FaceTime, you’ll need to give both up too.

So it’s worth being very cautious about switching phone platforms: sometimes the changeover is simply too much hassle.

SOURCE: the sun