I'm trying to transfer my WhatsApp conversations to my new phone. However, when I start the process, I get asked by the WhatsApp install on the FLX1s to "Turn on WiFi". WiFi is already on and I am connected to the same network as my old phone (which still has WhatsApp as the official copy even though I've transferred the SIM card to my new phone).
From what I understand, I need to transfer the conversations before I can make the new phone the "official" WhatsApp client. However, I can't get past the request the turn on the WiFi.
Any ideas?
I think this is an incompatibility with the way WhatsApp expects transfers and how we run Android applications. while your phone is connected to WiFi, WhatsApp can't actually see that, but rather it only needs an ethernet connection (as WhatsApp and all Android apps are sandboxed and separated from Linux apps). I do not have a solution for this yet, maybe WhatsApp allows to download your data somewhere and upload it manually to the phone?
garydale Topic starter
02/01/2026 12:38 pm
@fakeshell I tried another method - backing the data up to Google Drive from the original phone. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled WhatsApp where as per https://faq.whatsapp.com/618575946635920/?cms_platform=android&helpref=platform_switcher
A problem crops up when I try to connect to the drive - it doesn't recognize that I've got an account already registered (the account list is blank - I can only add an account) but when I enter the e-mail address, it complains that it is already registered.
At this point, I have a backup but WhatsApp only lets me restore when I initially install it.
Any ideas?
garydale Topic starter
03/01/2026 1:48 am
@fakeshell OK. How do I remove the account? When I remove it from Online Accounts, I still get the same message.
Did you enable "Allow apps to find accounts" in the microG Services app? Because that was the issue for me a while back on lineage os.
I had the same problem.
But there is another way to transfer your old conversations to your phone.
You can have local database backups of your WhatsApp. They will be stored unter "your phone -> Android -> media -> com.whatsapp -> WhatsApp -> Databases
I always had that folder uploaded to my nextcloud auto upload feature to have a non-google backup.
The easiest way is to do it on the shell:
root@FuriPhoneFLX1s:/home/furios/.local/share/andromeda/data/media/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp# mkdir Databases root@FuriPhoneFLX1s:/home/furios/.local/share/andromeda/data/media/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp# ls -alh insgesamt 20K drwxrwsr-x 5 1023 30073 4,0K 9. Jan 14:02 . drwxrwsr-x 3 1023 30073 4,0K 5. Jan 14:37 .. drwxr-sr-x 2 root 30073 4,0K 9. Jan 14:02 Databases drwxrwsr-x 19 1023 30073 4,0K 5. Jan 14:37 Media drwxrwsr-x 2 1023 30073 4,0K 7. Jan 22:19 .Shared root@FuriPhoneFLX1s:/home/furios/.local/share/andromeda/data/media/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp# ls -alh /home/furios/Nextcloud/Android/WhatsApp_Databases/ insgesamt 47M drwxrwxr-x 2 furios furios 4,0K 9. Jan 14:03 . drwxrwxr-x 5 furios furios 4,0K 1. Jan 18:02 .. -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 23M 31. Dez 02:01 msgstore-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 23M 19. Dez 02:00 msgstore.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 144K 1. Jan 02:01 msgstore-increment-1-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 91K 7. Jan 02:00 msgstore-increment-1.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 84K 2. Jan 02:00 msgstore-increment-2-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 36K 8. Jan 02:00 msgstore-increment-2.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 59K 3. Jan 02:01 msgstore-increment-3-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 80K 9. Jan 02:00 msgstore-increment-3.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 108K 4. Jan 02:02 msgstore-increment-4-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 67K 23. Dez 02:00 msgstore-increment-4.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 67K 5. Jan 02:00 msgstore-increment-5-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 70K 24. Dez 02:00 msgstore-increment-5.db.crypt14 -rw-rw-r-- 1 furios furios 60K 16. Nov 03:00 msgstore-increment-6.db.crypt14 root@FuriPhoneFLX1s:/home/furios/.local/share/andromeda/data/media/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp# cp /home/furios/Nextcloud/Android/WhatsApp_Databases/* Databases/ root@FuriPhoneFLX1s:/home/furios/.local/share/andromeda/data/media/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp# ls -alh Databases/ insgesamt 47M drwxr-sr-x 2 root 30073 4,0K 9. Jan 14:05 . drwxrwsr-x 5 1023 30073 4,0K 9. Jan 14:02 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 23M 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 23M 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 144K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-1-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 91K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 84K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-2-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 36K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-2.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 59K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-3-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 80K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-3.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 108K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-4-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 67K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-4.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 67K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-5-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 70K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-5.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 root 30073 60K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-6.db.crypt14 root@FuriPhoneFLX1s:/home/furios/.local/share/andromeda/data/media/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp# chown -R 1023 Databases/ root@FuriPhoneFLX1s:/home/furios/.local/share/andromeda/data/media/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp# ls -alh Databases/ insgesamt 47M drwxr-sr-x 2 1023 30073 4,0K 9. Jan 14:05 . drwxrwsr-x 5 1023 30073 4,0K 9. Jan 14:02 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 23M 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 23M 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 144K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-1-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 91K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 84K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-2-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 36K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-2.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 59K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-3-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 80K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-3.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 108K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-4-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 67K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-4.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 67K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-5-2026-01-06.1.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 70K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-5.db.crypt14 -rw-r--r-- 1 1023 30073 60K 9. Jan 14:05 msgstore-increment-6.db.crypt14
If you do that and then open WhatsApp the first time the following screen will appear, see attached screenshot.
If you already did the wizard it's too late for the restore... You have to uninstall and start from scratch.
OK. Finally got it again:
- from a fresh install / factory reset, install Aurora Store using f-droid
- give Aurora access to Google using your account
- not sure if this is necessary but I set up my online account
- install WhatsApp and open it.
- not sure if this is necessary, but I removed my online account
- when WhatsApp fails, go into settings | android | settings | Passwords & Accounts and remove your account
- re-enter your account into WhatsApp
- when you get the "Just a sec..." message, close it.
- select "restore messages".
At this point I get my messages restored. However there is still the issue of WhatsApp not wanting to restore media because it thinks it's not connected to WiFi. You have to force it to resume.
Anonymous 5045 12/01/2026 11:23 pm
@garydale
Great to hear that you got it working. Can I ask about your experience with Whatsapp on the FLX1 now? I'm thinking of buying one also, but uncertainty about whether Whatsapp will work is the major thing holding me back..
Sven 13/01/2026 6:27 pm
My whatsapp transfer of whatsapp from an android phone to andromeda (in a FLX1) was easier (see above), maybe I was lucky. Now, the only thing I miss are notifications. But I am confident that it will be fixed soon or maybe it is all my fault.
