Move to IOS app not showing Whatsapp as an option. What am I missing?

Hi abhisheksharma79,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're having an issue with moving your WhatsApp data from your device to a new iPhone. We'd like to help.

Are you having any other issues with your Move to IOS? Is this issue isolated to the WhatsApp data? If so, this resource from WhatsApp may be helpful: How to migrate your WhatsApp data from Android to iPhone

Give that a try, then let us know if that helps.

Take care!

You are wrong about how Android is implemented. Each app on an Android phone “owns” its data, and that data is not accessible to any other app. It’s a feature of Android’s security model (iOS uses a similar security model). The Apple app does not move any data; it asks the app to move its data because the Apple app does not have access to that data. The Move to iOS app does not show WhatsApp as an option because WhatsApp did not give the Apple app “permission” to access its data. Note that the latest beta version of WhatsApp DOES grant permission, and Android phones that have that version DO see WhatsApp in the list of apps. However, that version of WhatsApp has not been released for general use.

Here is the WhatsApp support article→https://faq.whatsapp.com/530788665445780/?helpref=search&query=move%20to%20ios&search_session_id=23f5b38aeb8d6eab7daf7069aaed200d&sr=17

abhisheksharma79,

Thanks for following up. We recommend that you contact the app developer for assistance with restoring WhatsApp content. How to contact an app developer - Apple Support

Take care.

Well, Apple is never going to respond in this user-to-user forum; you can use the Get Support link at the top of this page to ask Apple. But they won’t tell you either, except to say that the Move to iOS requires that each participating Android app provide a function that does the actual data move, and that Move to iOS calls. Apple’s app does not have access to any data in any Android app, which is as it should be for security reasons, and is enforced by Google’s security.

WhatsApp only needs to tell Apple where to find WhatsApp data in Android's filesystem (which they already do, it is advertised as being a possibility to migrate WA data), Apple's responsibility is to copy it from one device to the other, regardless of its encryption state, and WhatsApp on iOS needs to find this data and decrypt it once again on the iOS side.

The question again was, why does the Move to iOS app not show WhatsApp as an option to move its data? why did they consider that WhatsApp is not installed on the Android device?

Yes, I may have simplified the tech details for the sake of discussion. Essentially, telling Move to iOS where the data lives (whether in the filesystem, memory mapped or as a stream, whatever) needs to be carried out by each app. My point was more about Move to iOS app obviating if the data was E2E encrypted or not, it doesn't need to care, to it it's just a blob of binary data and needs no decryption to move it from one device to the other.

However, if the WhatsApp that offers this data is not released to the public (which I was not aware of), then the whole discussion is moot. WhatsApp has help pages that explain the process and don't mention at all that this is pre-release software, hence me blaming Move to iOS for not exposing the functionality.

Thanks JovonaP, but the app developer of Move to iOS is Apple, so it is Apple who should respond here and explain why Whatsapp is not showing as an option.

I have the same exact problem and I am following step by step what is indicated here : https://faq.whatsapp.com/530788665445780/?helpref=search&query=move%20to%20ios&search_session_id=23f5b38aeb8d6eab7daf7069aaed200d&sr=17

Even my photos aren't transferred. Only my contacts are getting transferred using More to iOS. Quite disappointing. The time is shown as 25 minutes but the process ends 30 seconds after it starts with no error messages.

WhatsApp uses their own app encryption.

it is WhatsApp responsibility to provide Apple with the necessary tools to move the app from one phone to another.