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?
