Preliminary information
Although it is possible to transfer WhatsApp messages from one phone to another in a very simple way, if the transfer takes place from Android to Android and from iPhone to iPhone, the same cannot be said in case the operating systems are different, since the data and backups are created and saved in profoundly different formats.
This, however, does not mean that this operation is impossible: in fact, there are third-party programs and apps that can be used for the purpose that, you will soon discover, allow you to have WhatsApp iPhone on Android within a few minutes.
But I must warn you, even before proceeding, that these are solutions not officially designed by WhatsApp, therefore, their use could involve risks: for example, programs and apps could stop working, due to changes in WhatsApp's storage systems. Or, again, the data transfer may not be fully completed. Although these are infrequent events, it is good that you are aware of them, before even entering into this adventure.
However, in the course of this tutorial, I will show you two different approaches for this procedure: transferring data through a paid program, such as Wondershare dr.fone (the specific form costs 15,99 $), or carry out the conversion in a "manual" way, using the app WazzapMigrator (Costs 5,99€ on the Play Store).
Whichever solution you choose, you must have a computer equipped with Windows or of an Mac on which it is installed iTunes, of USB cables needed to connect the iPhone and Android device to the PC and one free USB port (two in case you want to operate through Wondershare dr.fone, since the devices must be connected at the same time).
How to get WhatsApp iPhone on Android with Wondershare dr.fone
As I mentioned earlier, WhatsApp does not provide an official procedure for transferring chats and attachments from one operating system to another. There are, however, some third-party programs, such as Wondershare dr.fone, which allow to obtain this result in a rather simple way.
For your information, Wondershare dr.fone is a program dedicated to Android and iPhone data management. Available for Windows and macOS, it is able to backup, recover and transfer data from one device to another, even if with a different operating system.
Wondershare dr.fone is free to download and try but, to take advantage of the message transfer feature, essential for have WhatsApp iPhone on Android, you need to purchase the module dedicated to restoring social apps, with prices starting at $ 19,95 / year. All clear? Well then let me tell you how to use it.
Preliminary operation
First of all, you must ensure that both the iPhone and the Android smartphone meet the conditions necessary to complete the WhatsApp data transfer successfully: I list them below.
- WhatsApp it must be working and properly associated with a phone number on both devices.
- Su Android, the USB debugging. To do this, go to the menu Settings> System> About phone / About device and tap on the item Build number seven consecutive times, in order to activate the menu of Developer options. Afterwards, go back to the menu System, tap on the items Advanced e Developer options and activate the lever corresponding to the item Debug USB, answering affirmatively to any warning messages shown on the screen. For more information on the subject, you can consult my guide.
- The computer you are going to operate from must have software iTunes (if you don't have it, you can install it by following these instructions), to which the iPhone from which to take the data must have been previously associated. To be able to do this, connect the "iPhone by" to the computer, via the cable lightning supplied, then answer affirmatively to the messages shown on both devices and enter the unlock code on your smartphone. If you need help with these steps, you can take advantage of the instructions in this tutorial of mine.
Finally, keep in mind that the transfer will result in the deletion of WhatsApp data present on the target device (in this case, Android). If you want to keep some of them, you have to save them by following the instructions I have given you in this guide.
Transfer WhatsApp from iOS to Android
Once the preliminary operations phase has been completed, it is time to take action and physically transfer the WhatsApp data from iPhone to Android.
First, then connect to the Wondershare dr.fone site and click on the button Download Now to immediately download the software installation package. When the download is complete, start the file obtained (eg. drfone_restoreapp_fullxxxx.exe) and follow the instructions most appropriate to the operating system you are using.
- Windows - click on the buttons Yes e install, wait for the program components to be downloaded from the Internet and installed on your computer, and when the process is complete, press the button Start now, in order to start the program automatically.
- MacOS - click on your button Accept located in the window that appears on the desktop, drag dr.fone to the folder Applications macOS, access it and double-click the program icon you just copied. At the first start, you will have to confirm the willingness to run the software by clicking on the button apri, attached to the notice that appears on the screen.
Once the software is open, connect both Android smartphone that l 'iPhone to the computer and click on the buttons Reset social app (in dr.fone main menu) and Transfer WhatsApp messages.
After a few seconds, the software should detect both phones. Check, in the window that is shown to you, that they are correctly positioned: in the field Source there must be theiPhone, that is the device from which to copy the chats; in the field Destinationinstead, the device must be present Android, that is the one on which to transfer the data.
If the order is incorrect, press the button Flip, located in the center of the program window, to reverse it.
Next, click on your button Transfer (bottom right) and, if you have not already done so, activate your copy of the program by clicking on the registration button and indicating email address e license code in the appropriate text fields. If other warnings appear on the screen, respond Yes e Login successful. Keep it going.
After this step too, dr.fone should proceed with the data control and with the installing the WhatsApp version necessary to complete the installation, and then ask you to grant some permissions to the WhatsApp application for Android, in order to correctly view the attachments to messages.
When that happens, grab your smartphone Android, go to the menu Settings> Apps and notifications> Show all apps, touch the item for WhatsApp, fai tap sull'opzione Permissions and move up ON the corresponding levetta alla voce Archiving. On some devices, the app permissions area may be in a slightly different location (eg. Settings> Apps> Advanced> App permissions> WhatsApp).
At this point, go back to the computer, press the button OK in dr.fone and, when prompted, start WhatsApp on Android and run the first app configuration procedure, indicating your number, agreeing to restore the backup and finally confirming your name. In case of doubts regarding the first configuration of WhatsApp, you can consult my tutorial on the subject.
Almost there: after finishing the app setup on Android, press the button NEXT of dr.fone, wait for the progress bar to reach 100% And that's it! Then click on the button OK, take your Android smartphone and check that all the chats you had on the original iPhone are present.
How to have WhatsApp iPhone on Android via manual procedure
If you do not want to rely on Wondershare dr.fone, perhaps because you would like to save a few euros, you can follow a manual procedure, slightly more cumbersome, but also cheaper, to move WhatsApp messages from iPhone to Android.
What you need to do, in practice, is to create an unencrypted iPhone backup, using iTunes (if you don't have it, you can install it by following these instructions), extract the data related to WhatsApp with an ad-hoc program and, later, convert and restore this data on Android using WazzapMigrator: an app downloadable from the Play Store for the price of 5,99€.
Remember, once again, that WhatsApp data transfer from one operating system to another it is not an officially recognized procedure from WhatsApp and that, consequently, it may not work properly. Also, on some devices, WazzappMigrator it may not work at all or transfer only part of the chats and multimedia files. Then don't tell me I didn't warn you!
Create the backup with iTunes
Once the steps to be put into practice have been clarified, the time has come to act. First, start up iTunes, calling it up from the menu Home in Windows o dal Dock of macOS, connect the iPhone to the computer using the cable lightning supplied and, if this is the first time you perform this operation, confirm your willingness to authorize communication on both devices and enter the unlock code iPhone, when prompted.
At this point, go back to iTunes, click on the button in the shape of iPhone located at the top left, put the check mark next to the item What computer and, to create an unencrypted backup, remove it from the box Encrypt iPhone backup (by entering, if necessary, the encryption password defined above).
When you are ready, click on the button Back up now, in order to create a backup of the data immediately: to check the progress, take a look at the bar located at the top of the program window. After the backup is complete, you can close iTunes.
Extract conversations from iPhone
Once the backup has been created, you can proceed to extract the data related to WhatsApp using iBackup Viewer, a program available for free for both Windows that for MacOS.
To use it, connect to its main page and click on the button download for Windows, if you are using the Microsoft operating system, or download for Mac, if you are working from a Mac. Once you have the installation file (eg. iBackupViewerSetup.exe), launch it and follow the instructions most appropriate for the operating system at your disposal.
- Windows - click on your button Yes to pass the Windows security check, press the button Next for four consecutive times and complete the installation of the program by pressing the keys install e Finish.
- MacOS - using the window that appears on the screen, drag the program to the folder Applications of the Mac and open it. Next, right click on the iBackup Viewer icon, choose the item apri from the proposed menu and press the button apri from the next window, to pass the macOS security check (you only have to do it the first time you run the software).
The program, at this point, should recognize the iTunes backups present on the PC and import them automatically: select the most recent one, helping you, if necessary, with the specified date immediately below, click on the button Raw files (l'icona a forma di graphic) and wait for iBackupViewer to "extract" the backup content.
Once the extraction is complete, click on the button Tree view (to the left of the entry Export), locate the folder AppDomainGroup-group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.shared, located on the left side of the program, select the latter and click on the file ChatStorge.sqlite, on the right.
Pray click on your button Export ..., press the item Selected ... attached to the displayed menu, it indicates where to save the extracted file (for example on the desktop) and finalizes everything by clicking on the button Save / Save.
If you intend to transfer media files attached to conversations as well, double-click the folder Message, then click on the folder Media inside, to select it, and use the menu again Export…> Selected… to save it in the same location where you stored the previous file.
When you're done, disconnect your iPhone from your computer, take out the SIM card (which you'll need to transfer to your Android phone as soon as possible) and uninstall WhatsApp.
Ripristinare conversazioni your Android
Once you have "extracted" the files containing WhatsApp data, take the phone Android and, after installing the SIM inside it (it is essential to obtain the same numbering as the backup created), turn it on and install the WhatsApp app.
Then, start the latter and carry out its initial configuration by entering, when requested, the telephone number della SIM inserted and il identification code received by SMS (if necessary). Take care to refuse, in case of request, the restoration of any backups already present in the cloud (I would like to clarify that, by doing so, the latter will be lost).
Once the WhatsApp configuration is finished, buy and install WazzapMigrator on the phone, connect the latter to the computer using the supplied USB cable, call up thenotify area of Android and, after touching the item Device charging via USB - Tap for more options, put the check mark next to the item File transfer / MTP.
At this point, start File Explorer, if you use a Windows PC, or the Android File Transfer application, if you use a Mac (available for free for download, as I explained to you in this guide of mine), access the smartphone memory and paste the file and the cartella previously saved in the folder WazzapMigrator, residing on the Android device.
If you need more specific instructions on transferring files from your computer to Android, or if you have problems with the drivers, the guide that I have entirely dedicated to the subject may be useful to you.
Finally the time has come to extract the conversations on Android: disconnect the device from the computer, uninstall WhatsApp and start the app WhatsApp Migrator. Then, do a few swipes to the right, to skip the initial tutorial, tap the item Select the iPhone file e fai tap sul pulsating Yes, to start the automatic search.
Now, you should see a confirmation message that there is a previous backup - when this happens, tap the button (►) placed in the center of the screen and wait for the conversations to be “transformed” from the iPhone format to the Android format (this could take several minutes). To finalize the copy of the archive in the memory area set up to host it, press the button OK.
This time we are really there! Please try to reinstall again WhatsApp and carry out the configuration procedure once again (by entering the phone number and waiting for the confirmation SMS): if everything went smoothly, WhatsApp should offer you to restore the local backup present in memory. To do this, tap the button Restore attached to the section Local Backup and wait a few minutes for the backup to be restored. If WhatsApp does not detect the local backup but that of Google Drive, connect to this web page and remove WhatsApp from the applications associated with Drive (in this way, you will force the app to search for local backups, instead of the cloud ones).
The game is done! After a few moments, you should have the WhatsApp chats you had on your iPhone available, along with the related media files (if you have previously chosen to copy the folder containing such data).
To conclude and free up some memory space, you can safely delete the files contained in the WazzapMigrator folder and, if you deem it appropriate, also uninstall the app.
Other solutions to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android
A useful alternative solution that you can use is the one made available by WhatsApp that allows you to transfer chat da iPhone ad Android, acting through the settings of WhatsApp su iPhone and during the initialization phase of your device, on Android.
This solution is currently supported for smartphone transfer Android brand Samsung but it is also being extended to other models.
In this regard, to learn more, I suggest you refer to my tutorial in which I explain how to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android.
