Export chats from Whatsapp to Telegram
As we explained in Issue 599, Whatsapp’s controversial new privacy terms and conditions have led many users to switch to rival messaging apps, such as Telegram and Signal. Facebook, which owns Whatsapp, is so worried that it has even published an explanation of the changes ( www.snipca. com/37305). Its very keen to point out that, whatever the changes, your messages remain private and encrypted, and Whatsapp is not keeping logs of who you contact.
What has changed is the way it will be handling data that helps you contact businesses. Specifically, it wants to use data that ‘describes’ how you interact with businesses that advertise on its sites, like Instagram and Facebook itself. This descriptive data includes things like where you were in the world when the connection between you and the business took place, what kind of device you were using and so on.
Facebook explains what’s happening at www.snipca.com/37306 but, in brief, it’s making it easier for you to contact businesses using Whatsapp by clicking adverts or links on the web. When you do so, the kind of adverts you see in the future may be influenced on the basis of you having made that connection, although not on the content of the message. It will also allow businesses to set up shops directly within Whatsapp, and for you to buy products through its app.
If, having read through our feature in Issue 599 and studied the new terms and conditions, you decide it’s time to switch, your biggest problem will be convincing all of your contacts to do the same. However, assuming they do, one of Whatsapp’s biggest rivals, Telegram Messenger ( https://telegram.org), which had 100 million new sign-ups in January alone, now makes it easy to import your existing Whatsapp chats.
To do so on IOS, open the Whatsapp chat you want to export, then tap the name of the contact or group at the top of the screen to open its information page. Here, tap Export Chat. This opens the standard IOS share pane showing your installed compatible apps. Tap Telegram, then either tap an existing chat or contact within the list of options, or tap ‘Import to a New Group’, followed by ‘Create and Import’.
On Android, open the chat you want to export within Whatsapp, then tap the three dots at the top of the screen followed by More, then ‘Export chat’ (see screenshot below left). Tap Telegram on the sharing pane that opens, then tap the name of the contact or group to which your old chat content should be added.