Possible to transfer WhatsApp history from Android to iOS?
Quoting Quora user Julio Cesar Sanchez Hernandez:
The only free way I’ve found is using watoi:
It requires a mac with Xcode and iTunes, and the unencrypted msgstore.db with the Whatsapp conversations from Android (you can get it using WhatsApp Key/DB Extractor)
Won’t give much more details as the watoi project link has a README with the instructions and are easy to follow
Watoi has two limitations though, per its github page:
- Media files and shared locations are not imported (got placeholders instead)
- Messages from contacts that changed ids (phone numbers) are not linked
It is not possible to transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to iPhone/iOS without paying for a third-party utility. I recently switched from Android to iPhone 11, and I tried almost every single application available on the internet (free ones are non-existent) that claims to transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to iPhone. I also tried an open-source software Watoi (WhatsApp Android to iOS Importer), but that didn't work for me either.
I finally bought the desktop application recommended here, and it did transfer my WhatsApp messages as well as media from Android to my new iPhone. Trial version is free to download and it can transfer 20 chats per contact, but you have to pay $19.95 for the full version. This is how the software works:
You'll first need to enable USB debugging on your Android and backup all the chats to your phone's storage or SD card.
Go to Google drive (drive.google.com), and login with your Google account. Go to Settings > Manage Apps and disconnect WhatsApp messenger from drive.
Connect Android device to computer transfer all the chats to a local database by clicking "Backup Messages" button.
Connect iPhone to your computer and encrypt the iPhone backup using iTunes.
Now, download the WhatsApp messenger on you iPhone and verify your phone number. You can remove the SIM card from your Android and insert it on your iPhone or you can receive the verification SMS on your Android.
Finally, connect the iPhone to your PC via Lightning cable, and click "Transfer messages from database to iPhone" button.
The whole process takes some time, but it works.