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WhatsApp chats are important for everyone, especially those who frequently change phones. The messaging app allows users to backup their chats via Google Drive, so that you can seamlessly retrieve all the chats on the new Android phone without any issues.

But without a Google account you can’t take advantage of this support, which could soon become optional as WhatsApp has started testing its local chat migration feature with select beta users. The feature is available on the Android beta version 2.23.9.19 as per WABetainfo.

As per the details available, WhatsApp will allow you to transfer the chats from one Android to another without backing up on Google Drive. Instead, you just need to sign into your account on the new phone, scan a QR code and start the chat transfer process. Using Drive to transfer chats is the only option but it is not the easiest or the fastest.

First you need to manually back up the last chats to the Drive, and then make sure that WhatsApp has access to your media devices and storage on the new phone. Only then, you will be able to retrieve the backed up chat, and restoring them takes time. The feature most likely utilises the Wi-Fi Direct option to deliver fast transfer of chats. And the transfer option is only going to work between two Android phones. For those switching to other platforms like iOS, they need to use the more elaborate transfer tool that WhatsApp offers.

With a local transfer feature, people who live in remote parts of a country can easily transfer their WhatsApp chats. It is also important for WhatsApp to have an in-house transfer option, because the WhatsApp chats backed up on Google Drive are not protected by end-to-end encryption by default. Expect the new local chat transfer option to make its public release in the coming months.

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