WhatsApp has on Wednesday unveiled a much-anticipated function permitting customers to lastly switch their chat historical past between iOS and Android telephones. This is a function that has been massively anticipated by customers, and till now, should you switched from an iPhone to an Android cellphone, or vice versa, you then both needed to belief third-party apps, take difficult steps, or simply quit in your chat historical past. With the brand new function, WhatsApp is promising an simple answer to this downside.

WhatsApp made the announcement on the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked occasion, and at first, customers will be capable to use the function emigrate their chat historical past from iPhones to Samsung telephones, beginning with the brand new foldables from the South Korean tech large — it seems like Samsung is hoping that this would possibly assist entice customers who had been locked into their iPhones, however are intrigued by its new folding telephones. However, the function can be out there for each iOS and Android and can work in each instructions quickly, WhatsApp mentioned.

A person’s total chat historical past is end-to-end encrypted on their very own system, and because of this migrating chats together with voice notes bumped into technical points. WhatsApp says that it labored with the world’s largest handset makers and working system makers with a view to make this doable. 

“WhatsApp will be introducing the ability to move your entire WhatsApp chat history — including voice notes, photos, and conversations — in a seamless and secure way if you choose to switch mobile operating systems,” the corporate mentioned in its announcement. “The feature means that people will be able to switch between the platforms of their choice, and take their WhatsApp history with them.”

“The feature will be available to users of both Android and iOS systems — which means that people will be able to switch from both Android to iOS, and from iOS to Android. It will start to roll out on Android initially, and on Samsung’s newest Galaxy phones to start. Users will be able to take their WhatsApp history from iOS to an Android device, and will subsequently be able to do the same on iOS devices.”

“Your WhatsApp messages belong to you. That’s why they are stored on your phone by default, and not accessible in the cloud like many other messaging services,” mentioned Sandeep Paruchuri, product supervisor at WhatsApp. “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.”

Does WhatsApp’s new privateness coverage spell the top to your privateness? We mentioned this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is accessible on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.