It's about time. A functionality that WhatsApp users have been asking for for years is now finally a reality: being able to transfer WhatsApp chats from iOS to Android. While Samsung Galaxy users have had this feature for a couple of months now, Google and WhatsApp have teamed up to expand it to more Android users.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Google announced that the newly announced Pixel 6 series and all existing Pixel phones now support migrating WhatsApp chat history from an iPhone. Google says the feature won't be limited to Samsung and Pixel devices and will be available on every new phone launching with Android 12. It's unclear whether the migration tool will also be available on devices upgrading from Android 11 to Android 12.

The transfer process involves connecting your iPhone and Android phone over a Lighting to USB-C cable. Google mentions that users will be prompted to scan a QR code on their iPhone while setting up their new Android phone to move over all WhatsApp chats, media, and more.

"Starting today, you can safely transfer your chat history and memories from your WhatsApp account on iPhone to Android. We worked closely with the WhatsApp team to build a new set of capabilities, all designed to make it easier to switch from iPhone to Android and take your WhatsApp history with you," Google said in a blog post.

Google says it worked closely with the WhatsApp team to make this happen. Data remains protected during the transfer. The migration tool also ensures that you don't receive any new messages on your old phone while the transfer is in progress.

We've known for a while now that Google has been working on a tool to let iPhone users seamlessly transfer their data, including WhatsApp chats, to an Android phone. We first spotted evidence of the tool in a teardown of the Data Restore Tool app back in July.