Almost every week, WhatsApp releases a new feature that improves the messaging service for its users.
The latest addition is a way to transfer your WhatsApp chat history between devices on the same operating system. This means you can quickly put everything – messages, photos, videos, attachments and other media – on a second phone without leaving the app.
It’s been possible to do this using third-party apps in the past, but WhatsApp says the new official method avoids potentially questionable privacy practices and is more private than using cloud services.
This is because data is sent directly from phone to phone when you scan a QR code and, as always, everything is fully encrypted during transfer.
It’s also a faster option than backing up your chat history on the first device and then restoring it to the other.
The limitation is that the feature only works on devices of the same type, which means iPhone to iPhone and Android to Android, not cross-platform. It may come in the future, but for now you need to have devices with the same operating system.
To transfer your chats, you need to have both devices handy. They must be connected to Wi-Fi and have location enabled.
On the old phone, go to Settings > Chats > Chat forwarding and – on the new phone – scan the QR code displayed on the screen to complete the process.
The new feature comes in handy if you’ve already set up a new phone because previously if you wanted to move your WhatsApp chats, you had to do that as part of the initial process.
Of course, if you want to use WhatsApp on both phones and you’re not selling or trading the old phone, you can just link the new phone to your old one thanks to the fact that WhatsApp now allows you to have multiple phones as bonded devices.
