Transferring your chat history from one device to another via Google Drive will probably soon no longer be necessary. WhatsApp is experimenting with an alternative method.
WhatsApp and Google Drive have been anchored together for many years, but that is about to change. In its latest beta version, WhatsApp is experimenting with a system to transfer chats from one smartphone to another without using Drive.
The new approach would use a QR code. If you want to change devices, you can generate a code on your old smartphone, which you then have to scan with your new smartphone. This way, all chat data will be transferred without having to worry about a cloud account or a cable. The QR code would come to WhatsApp on iOS and Android.
Google account fills up quickly
Traditionally, you can back up chats from WhatsApp to Google Drive. If you use a different smartphone, you can restore that backup from your Drive account. This was a useful method until Google decided to compare the weight of the backup with your total available storage space in Gmail.
Google also previously removed free backup of photos, and Gmail content also counts towards the free 15GB. Google lured users into its ecosystem with the promise of free services, but then introduced restrictions and demanded money once those users were committed to the ecosystem. A WhatsApp backup can easily take up several gigabytes, which makes the problem even worse.
No security
The QR code doesn’t solve the backup problem yet. If you lose your old device, you won’t be able to generate the QR code. However, transferring chats without Google Drive is a useful addition. WhatsApp is currently testing the feature in beta with users who have signed up for the beta program. The functionality will most likely be available to everyone at a later date.