Resolved iPhone to iPhone Data Migration Question

[Apple_Glen_UK]

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere in the forums but I have an iPhone SE (1st generation) and have just ordered a new iPhone SE. When I receive it I will try migrating everything on my current iPhone across to my new one using the Data Migration service. I use WhatsApp which I believe is not widely used in the USA but certainly in the UK, almost everyone seems to use it. My question is; will the data in WhatsApp (chats, photos, videos etc) migrate across as well? From what I have read, I do not think that they will, but if anyone who has tried this could advise me, I would be grateful. Thank you.

 

[ian87w]

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere in the forums but I have an iPhone SE (1st generation) and have just ordered a new iPhone SE. When I receive it I will try migrating everything on my current iPhone across to my new one using the Data Migration service. I use WhatsApp which I believe is not widely used in the USA but certainly in the UK, almost everyone seems to use it. My question is; will the data in WhatsApp (chats, photos, videos etc) migrate across as well? From what I have read, I do not think that they will, but if anyone who has tried this could advise me, I would be grateful. Thank you.

iPhone to iPhone? Everything will migrate just fine. Simply backup your current phone via iCloud or iTunes, and then do a restore from backup on you new iPhone. It will restore everything just like it was on your old phone. Very nifty. And yes, whatsapp backup will transfer as well since whatsapp on iOS backs up to iCloud.

This is all assuming your new iPhone will have at least the same storage, if not more, than your current iPhone.

As a preparation, do an iCloud back up (if you never done so) of your current iPhone. Migrating from an older iPhone to a newer iPhone is the easiest part. Apple really did a great job here.

Regarding Whatsapp, even if you want to start the new phone fresh, Whatsapp will still be restored from its own iCloud backup. Just make sure you do a backup to iCloud from Whatsapp settings.

 

[Apple_Glen_UK]

Thanks for the info. Although I don't use iCloud, I'm aware that I could backup WhatsApp to iCloud from the settings within the app. Storage will not be a problem. My current iPhone is 128GB but only 22GB of that is used so far. My new SE is 64GB.

What I wondered was will all my WhatsApp chats, photos and videos be transferred across to my new iPhone if I use the method below when setting up my new iPhone, but I think to be on the safe side, I will backup all my WhatsApp data to iCloud beforehand.

 

[ian87w]

If you don't use iCloud, then at least do a local backup to your computer. I mean right now, you have zero backup. Just backup to your computer and restore that backup to your SE.

 

[Apple_Glen_UK]

So, my new iPhone SE arrived yesterday and I can now answer my own question, for anyone that might see this in future and be wondering the same thing. Doing the iPhone-to-iPhone data migration on set up did bring across absolutely everything. All my photos, videos and apps etc all migrated without any problems whatsoever. And with regards to WhatsApp, not only did it bring that across but it brought across all chats, photos and videos within it too. So, all in all, it was very easy and successful. If I was able to do it, I'm confident anyone would be!

 

[ian87w]

So, my new iPhone SE arrived yesterday and I can now answer my own question, for anyone that might see this in future and be wondering the same thing. Doing the iPhone-to-iPhone data migration on set up did bring across absolutely everything. All my photos, videos and apps etc all migrated without any problems whatsoever. And with regards to WhatsApp, not only did it bring that across but it brought across all chats, photos and videos within it too. So, all in all, it was very easy and successful. If I was able to do it, I'm confident anyone would be!

Thanks for the report back. Looks like Apple really did a good job. Enjoy your new phone!

 

[currrr]

So, my new iPhone SE arrived yesterday and I can now answer my own question, for anyone that might see this in future and be wondering the same thing. Doing the iPhone-to-iPhone data migration on set up did bring across absolutely everything. All my photos, videos and apps etc all migrated without any problems whatsoever. And with regards to WhatsApp, not only did it bring that across but it brought across all chats, photos and videos within it too. So, all in all, it was very easy and successful. If I was able to do it, I'm confident anyone would be!

How did yours manage to migrate everything? I just did the same migrate yesterday and all whatsapp data is lost. When opening back up the old whatsapp on the old iPhone, the data is lost as well. I'm wondering if it's just hidden in the back storage somewhere now in the old iPhone.

 

[Apple_Glen_UK]

Before I did the iPhone-to-iPhone migration I backed up my WhatsApp data to the cloud as I didn't expect this to come across. However, I left the two phones side by side and when it was done everything had come across - all my apps and everything in my WhatsApp - all chats, photos etc - had come across perfectly, so I didn't need to download all my WhatsApp data from the cloud. I was surprised as I thought I'd read somewhere that some apps would have to be downloaded again.

Did you update the iOS before doing it, as I was prompted to do so before doing the migration?

 

[currrr]

Before I did the iPhone-to-iPhone migration I backed up my WhatsApp data to the cloud as I didn't expect this to come across. However, I left the two phones side by side and when it was done everything had come across - all my apps and everything in my WhatsApp - all chats, photos etc - had come across perfectly, so I didn't need to download all my WhatsApp data from the cloud. I was surprised as I thought I'd read somewhere that some apps would have to be downloaded again.

Did you update the iOS before doing it, as I was prompted to do so before doing the migration?

Yes I did. The update was done prior to the transfer and both were on the newest iOS. However, it seems like the Whatsapp data didn't transfer through, or at least cannot be retrieved. The same goes for another social platform, LINE. The old phone is just sitting as is, but I'm afraid the data has been overwritten since it's no longer showing the old messages/attachments. I also had the thought that all data will be migrated just like a regular restore (just apps need to be redownloaded via WIFI).

 

[Apple_Glen_UK]

That's frustrating. Perhaps you've just been unlucky. I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions. Sorry! 😔

 

[currrr]

That's frustrating. Perhaps you've just been unlucky. I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions. Sorry! 😔

. I'll keep trying and see if I can somehow retrieve it on the old iPhone. Will bump this thread if I do ever figure this out. Thank you.