New WhatsApp feature makes ditching Android for iPhone a cinch

Switching smartphones is always a pain, especially if you're going from one of the best Android phones to one of the best iPhones or vice versa. 

WhatsApp is making the process a little easier today, though, by introducing switching tools for Android to iOS, expanding on tools for switching from iOS to Android. 

Mark Zuckerberg announced the update in a Facebook post. 

"We're adding to WhatsApp the ability to securely switch between phones and transfer your chat history, photos, videos, and voice messages between Android and iPhone while maintaining end-to-end encryption," the Meta boss said.

"This is a top requested feature. We launched the ability to switch from iPhone-->Android last year, and now adding Android-->iPhone as well."

The feature has begun rolling out but most users won't get it for around a week. 

In a detailed explainer from WhatsApp, the service notes that switching will only work for new or factory reset iPhones. You'll need to be running Android 5 or above and/or iOS 15.5 and above.

A useful update

WhatsApp has made the moving process as simple as possible and there are prompts and guides throughout.

The company says that the tool can be used to transfer account information, profile photo, individual chats and groups chats, chat history, media, and settings. Sadly, this doesn't include call history or display name.

Ultimately, making it easier to migrate between devices is a win for all users and avoids having to figure out a convoluted and hack-y to do so.