WhatsApp beta ditches Google Drive for chat transfer between phones

A new beta version of WhatsApp is rolling out with a change to how the app handles chat history transfers between devices, and it doesn’t involve Google Drive.

One of the more annoying nuances of using WhatsApp on Android has always been the caveat that if you wanted to keep your conversation history when switching phones, you needed to use your own storage space in Google Drive. WhatsApp made the process generally easy, but it was still a hassle to manually update conversations to your Google Drive account.

In WhatsApp version 2.24.9.19, a new chat transfer feature is being implemented that will use a QR code to send data (via WABetaInfo). When switching devices, WhatsApp will display a QR code on the old phone with all of the user’s data still on it. Once the QR code is scanned from the new device, that chat data will move over.

We haven’t been able to test out the new chat transfer feature in WhatsApp, though we can imagine it’ll be a little easier to manage than using Google Drive. There is the potential that it takes a while for data to transfer, depending on how much history the user has built up. We’re also unsure whether both devices need to be logged in, or if the QR code acts as a sign-in tool on the new phone.

This tool seems to be a little different from the chat transfer tool used between iOS and Android, which needs a physical cable to work properly. The process is pretty straightforward, but it takes a while because there are a lot of steps to work through. The new transfer tool in this new beta version will ideally circumvent steps like those.

The WhatsApp beta version with the new transfer tool is available via the Google Play Store, so long as you’re already signed up for the beta program, which is full at this time. There’s no word on when the feature will brought to the public build, but it may take a little while.