Telegram rolls out WhatsApp chat migration software for iPhone customers trying to change sides with out dropping conversations

Telegram for iPhone: Ever since the outrage against WhatsApp began, Signal has been widely spoken about as an alternative to the Facebook-owned messenger, and while Telegram has also been gaining users in this entire ordeal, it is not the preferred messenger during this shift even though it predates Signal. For the last two weeks, Signal, making use of the traction it has been getting, is making several changes to make it an ideal alternative to WhatsApp, but now Telegram has played the trump card for iPhone users – allowing migration of chats from WhatsApp.

In its version 7.4 released on Wednesday, Telegram has given WhatsApp users having iPhone an unprecedented option – to transfer their chat history from WhatsApp to Telegram. While iPhone WhatsApp chats cannot even be transferred to WhatsApp on Android phones, now, Telegram has given the iPhone users an option to switch to another platform without even losing important chats.

Ever since WhatsApp announced its updated terms of service and privacy policy, users have in large numbers been switching to other apps, but they have not been leaving the Facebook-owned messenger yet for two reasons – one because WhatsApp has delayed the implementation of the updated policy and two, because of possible loss of important conversations.

But now, that problem seems to have been solved by this update from Telegram. Moreover, Telegram has also made provisions for users to migrate their chats from other platforms like Line and KakaoTalk. However, users cannot migrate chats from Signal, because the latter does not give users the options to export their chats. At least, not yet.

How to migrate chart from WhatsApp to Telegram

Migrating chats from WhatsApp to Telegram is fairly easy, but can be time consuming because it needs to be done one chat at a time. Here’s a step by step guide on how users can transfer their messages on iPhone.

1. Users must first open their WhatsApp messenger and locate the chat they wish to migrate, opening it.
2. Once the chat is open, users must click on the name of their contact at the top of the chat.
3. In the window that now opens, users must scroll down and then locate the option to export chat.
4. Users, when choosing to export chat, would get the option to attach the media or forego it, and users can select their preferred option.
5. Once the export file is ready, the users would get several options in the iOS Share Sheet. Except Telegram, all other options would result in the sharing of a file containing the chats in a text document, along with files for the media shared. However, upon selecting Telegram, the users would get the option to select the contact that they want to map the chat with. Once they select the desired contact name, the entire chat message trail from WhatsApp would be transferred to the Telegram chat window, and each message would indicate that the message has been imported from another messenger.

Once the chat has been mapped, both the members of the chat would be able to see their messages from WhatsApp on the Telegram chat.

Telegram 7.4 chat transfer: Concerns

While the feature is unique and highly helpful for iPhone users, it has one downside. The user exporting the chat can select the contact where the chat is to be mapped, and this contact can even differ from the person whose chat is being imported, which means the contact numbers are not mapped. While this can help in streamlining chats from various numbers of the same person in a single chat window, it can also lead to vulnerability where the exporter can violate the trust of a person and share their entire chat with a third party.

Telegram 7.4: Updated features

With this update, Telegram has also brought other features, like allowing a user to delete messages, groups, secret chats as well as call history for all the parties, and leaving no trace of such an interaction, another feature upgrade from WhatsApp, where a deleted message is indicated in the chat, and unilateral deletion of call history for all parties is not available.

Moreover, in group voice chats, volumes can be managed for each individual participant. Apart from this, users would also be able to see active voice chats from their groups at the top of their calls tab.