WhatsApp testing direct chat history migration between Android phones, skip cloud storage transfer

With the new feature, WhatsApp hopes to make easier for messenger app users to transfer their chat history from old Android phone to new model with less hassle

Last year, WhatsApp after several years of testing finally introduced a tool for cross-platform chat history between Android and iOS and vice versa.

But, for Android-to-Android phone WhatsApp data transfer, users have to upload all data to Google Drive, and only through cloud storage, you can completely move the data to the new phone.

However, on iPhones, it is easy for users to completely transfer WhatsApp data from the old model to the new one within a few minutes.

Now, WhatsApp is finally planning to offer similar direct chat history migration between two Android phones.

In the latest WhatsApp for Android beta (v2.23.1.25), WhatsApp has introduced a provision to transfer data to a new phone without the need for backing it up to cloud storage. This feature is not available to all beta testers, noted WABetaInfo, WhatsApp community blog.

WhatsApp direct chat history transfer between Android phones. Credit: WABetaInfo

This is a welcome move by WhatsApp as this will help move their app data to the new phone with less hassle. Also, it saves some money for users on the internet bill to transfer several GBs of data to the new phone.

In a related development, WhatsApp is also testing the 'status report' feature. There has been increased use of social media and messenger apps to spread hatred and abusive messages.

While they are options to report a message in a chat session, there was none to block and report WhatsApp status.

Now, the company will be bringing an option to report WhatsApp statuses that are deemed abusive in nature.

Read more | WhatsApp to bring 'status report' security feature

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