Android to iPhone WhatsApp issue

SmartRRRR

Hi all, I just got a new iPhone and have been researching how to move my WhatsApp account over to the new phone from my old Android (on Android 8).
There's a guide on both WhatsApp and Apple that explains it clearly, but there's a catch.
The Apple guide doesn't mention how to move WhatsApp to the iPhone.
WhatsApp says I need WhatsApp iOS version 22... installed on my iPhone, but then it says that it must be reset to factory settings.
Which deletes WhatsApp!
It also says I have to have the same number on the new phone, so that means moving the SIM to the new phone before I can migrate from the old one. Which means I can't use the old phone once I start. If anything goes wrong, I stand to lose all the WhatsApp messages.
Anyone done it successfully? I'm sure many have, but I tried twice and it's not working for me.

k_man

Is this the guide you followed?
https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/chats/how-to-migrate-your-whatsapp-data-from-android-to-iphone/?lang=en

If so it suggests that WhatsApp is installed after the data has migrated?
And that you need to use the same number for WhatsApp, but doesn't mention the SIM has to be in the iPhone at the time. IIRC you get an OTP type SMS message.

E.g. (extract from guide)
....
Tap CONTINUE to transfer the data from your Android phone to your iPhone and wait for Move to iOS to confirm the transfer is complete.

Install the latest version of WhatsApp from the App Store.

Open WhatsApp and log in using the same phone number used on your old device.

J_B

Back up your whatsapp old phone  - it's in settings somewhere

Turn off old phone

Swap SIM

Turn on new phone

Open Whatsapp and follow the prompts

Job's done

lr1277

I am going through a very similar issue with my parents' phone.

They have a Samsung (Android) which is now 7 years old and showing its age in terms of insufficient sound on Whatsapp video calls.

Could get another Samsung or iPhone as a replacement. As I am not particularly techy, I wanted to use the John Lews Technical support team to migrate the data over whichever type of phone we got.

Say we chose the iPhone as the replacement.....(Mainly because I use an iPhone so can support them better and also they already use an iPad).

Did some googling and found there is an app for Android phones to move data to iPhones called something like 'Move my data to iPhone'.

I don't know if it can be installed on parents' phone for 2 reasons: 1) don't know the passwords for the google account and parents are not in a position to help or remember; 2) Whether the phone has the required operating system version to run that particular app.

Anyways I spoke to somebody at John Lewis technical support team and they said the following:

In terms of Whatsapp, the app can be installed on the iPhone with the correct SIM, but none of the chat history will be moved over. Something about the chat history being stored in the Samsung cloud and the chat history on an iPhone being stored in the Apple cloud.

So as long as you can move the contacts over from Android to iOS and use the same SIM card, the Whatsapp on the new phone will work but you will have lost your chat history.

Reading the link provided by k-man above, it looks like if you can install that app on the Android phone, you should be able to get all of Whatsapp over to the iPhone. So I am guessing JL technical support don't think they can install that app on my parents' phone.

Fortunately my mum is not interested in the chat history so it will just be a case of moving the contacts over and installing Whatsapp, in this particular case.

k_man

J_B said:

Back up your whatsapp old phone  - it's in settings somewhere

Turn off old phone

Swap SIM

Turn on new phone

Open Whatsapp and follow the prompts

Job's done

That works seamlessly for Android to Android, using backup to Google drive. Does iPhone version support backup/restore from Google drive?

k_man

A quick test on my iPhone only tries to restore from iCloud, not Google Drive.

wongataa

k_man said:

J_B said:

Back up your whatsapp old phone  - it's in settings somewhere

Turn off old phone

Swap SIM

Turn on new phone

Open Whatsapp and follow the prompts

Job's done

That works seamlessly for Android to Android, using backup to Google drive. Does iPhone version support backup/restore from Google drive?

No it doesn't.

SmartRRRR

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I have tried again, this time I did it end to end following the WhatsApp guide to the letter, apart from not being able to select WhatsApp on the transfer options screen during setup. It's not offered.
The WhatsApp photos all moved over, as did the video. However, as was mentioned by k_man and wongataa the restore only offers iCloud, and WhatsApp only offers backup to Google Drive. It's not a Samsung phone, so Google Drive is the only offered option.

Stalemate.

I want to be able to move the chats and everything WhatsApp to the new phone, I have not found a way to a) backup to iCloud or b) restore from Google Drive.

The WhatsApp support page is recent, as I understand the option to transfer between iPhone and Android was only recently offered as iOS 15.5 is a recent version.

My question was 'has anyone done it successfully?' and I haven't. Has anyone? 

k_man

Just tried, and get same as you.
WhasApp is not listed on the Transfer screen on the donor Android device.
As such it won't be transferred to the iPhone, so isn't available to restore ☹️.

This was to an IOS 12.5 device (am not resetting a different one!)

Maybe the process is broken.

What version of iOS is on your iPhone? If new you should be up to date.

SmartRRRR

iOS 15.5, up to date.
I've tried it on an old SE (also 15.5) because the plan was to move to the SE, trade in the Nokia at CEX, then move from SE to 11pro.
Couldn't do it, so got the 11pro anyway. I will sell the Nokia to them for cash, I can manage the £8 difference in value for cash against a voucher.

k_man

I fear we have hit a wall.