Database Develop

[Q] 2095 files in /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/files

Hi XDA people. In folder /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/files right now I have 2095 files named thumbnail_photo_(\d+).jpg. Those are thumbnails for contacts pictures. I have may be 20+ contacts with pictures attached (of ~300 overall), All these files are duplicates. Dated since I first turned phone ON I think. And duplicated ~once a day for every thumbnail. What's going on? It can theretically eat all my data's partition space
I have installed Skype, version 1.0.0.983 and twitter account. Some contacts are linked skype/twitter/phone/google. Pictures at most from skype, 1 from twitter.
I have HTC Incredible S, started with stock ROM (i think this duplication started in stock ROM), now I have Android Revolution 1.1.1.
Any help appreciated.

facebook
amokkatxda said:
Hi XDA people. In folder /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/files right now I have 2095 files named thumbnail_photo_(\d+).jpg. Those are thumbnails for contacts pictures. I have may be 20+ contacts with pictures attached (of ~300 overall), All these files are duplicates. Dated since I first turned phone ON I think. And duplicated ~once a day for every thumbnail. What's going on? It can theretically eat all my data's partition space
I have installed Skype, version 1.0.0.983 and twitter account. Some contacts are linked skype/twitter/phone/google. Pictures at most from skype, 1 from twitter.
I have HTC Incredible S, started with stock ROM (i think this duplication started in stock ROM), now I have Android Revolution 1.1.1.
Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have facebook on your phone?
becuase i have a low res preview thumbnail of every dp of any body iv ever searched on Facebook and any photos. the photos are no bigger than my finger nail. their cache so if you ever view them agian you dont have to donwload, it speeds your phone up

jul644 said:
do you have facebook on your phone?
becuase i have a low res preview thumbnail of every dp of any body iv ever searched on Facebook and any photos. the photos are no bigger than my finger nail. their cache so if you ever view them agian you dont have to donwload, it speeds your phone up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont use facebook. In my case I have 100-150 duplicate JPGs (same size, even md5 of them I think) for every contact (which have pic. attached). Im not sure if it somehow can speed up my phone

ummm
amokkatxda said:
I dont use facebook. In my case I have 100-150 duplicate JPGs (same size, even md5 of them I think) for every contact (which have pic. attached). Im not sure if it somehow can speed up my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe your phone thinks their cute? lol but that is weird if you really want to get rid of them then do a full wipe of everything (expect battery stats) and install a fresh rom
but they wont slow down your phone as it uses flash storage, and can you tell how much space their taking up?>
also what rom are you using ?

jul644 said:
maybe your phone thinks their cute? lol but that is weird if you really want to get rid of them then do a full wipe of everything (expect battery stats) and install a fresh rom
but they wont slow down your phone as it uses flash storage, and can you tell how much space their taking up?>
also what rom are you using ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be serious, jul644. They took 18 Mb. 95% of them are orphans I guess, they are not linked to contacts2.db. So who will clean this up if not manually delete them?
This strange effect started in stock HTC ROM, now I have Android Revolutin, which is almost same, at least in HTC Sense part.

humm
amokkatxda said:
Be serious, jul644. They took 18 Mb. 95% of them are orphans I guess, they are not linked to contacts2.db. So who will clean this up if not manually delete them?
This strange effect started in stock HTC ROM, now I have Android Revolutin, which is almost same, at least in HTC Sense part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you backing up all your contacts with google?>
Becuase iv flashed so many roms and back up my contacts i have 8 copies of every contact.
http://www.google.com/contacts
find duplicate's and delete?
Did you do a full wipe when moving rom's
(maybe its just copies not removed)
but this is very weird indeed ill see if i have the same issue

jul644 said:
are you backing up all your contacts with google?>
Becuase iv flashed so many roms and back up my contacts i have 8 copies of every contact.
find duplicate's and delete?
Did you do a full wipe when moving rom's
(maybe its just copies not removed)
but this is very weird indeed ill see if i have the same issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I do contacts sync with google, but there are no duplicates of contacts not in phone nor in "google contacts" via web. All my backups I do by nandroid in cwm, bever backedup/restored via Titanium nor phone did not full contacts fetch from online store.
So I found something interesting today.
I removed photos from contacts, disabled contact aggregation on twitter and skype etc., cleaned that folder.
Configured contacts sync and aggregation with skype and twitter again.
Checked folder - only one copy for every picture.
That was three days ago. What I have now: contacts with twitter and flickr pictures are still in one copy, but pictures got from skype are now in 3 copies each. Their modification times are with the difference in 24 hours.
Need to check if they all are listed in contacts2.db. Will post result soon.
jul644 I guess you are not using skype on your phone?

wow
amokkatxda said:
Yes, I do contacts sync with google, but there are no duplicates of contacts not in phone nor in "google contacts" via web. All my backups I do by nandroid in cwm, bever backedup/restored via Titanium nor phone did not full contacts fetch from online store.
So I found something interesting today.
I removed photos from contacts, disabled contact aggregation on twitter and skype etc., cleaned that folder.
Configured contacts sync and aggregation with skype and twitter again.
Checked folder - only one copy for every picture.
That was three days ago. What I have now: contacts with twitter and flickr pictures are still in one copy, but pictures got from skype are now in 3 copies each. Their modification times are with the difference in 24 hours.
Need to check if they all are listed in contacts2.db. Will post result soon.
jul644 I guess you are not using skype on your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i have exactly 9 999 thumbnail's lol
Every fb contact iv (scrolled past)
all twitter contacts i have and i have looked at
all skype contacts
and all google contacts
and i have doubles(and triples maybe quads) even for contacts that are not linked (ie facebook and twitter)
it stops at 9,999 which is probably some value
and the space this takes up on my phone is TBA im currently copying the folder to my sd card so i can view the size
610 files used 3.84 mb of space
also now that iv seen the pictures
they are thumbnails of every picture that has been on your phone including websites.....
this is huge for example i cleared all the browser files (deleted history cache ect ect)
but! pictures from the past still show up (like web site logos and pictures from sites)
i now know how to really creep peoples android phones!
i can see everything! (up untill 9 999) tho

What's the problem Android has with SIM contacts?

I know this isn't specific about the P970, but that's the Android I have, and that's where I'm experiencing this very annoying thing with Android and SIM.
All other phones I've had, all of them, always gave me the option to store both my SMS's and my contacts to the SIM card instead to the phone, and to transfer both SMS/contacts from/to the phone to the SIM and vice-versa. And it's a feature I found extremely useful, not only for keeping my privacy, but mostly for keeping my contacts and my messages always with me, no matter of which phone I'm using: mine, my brother's, my girlfriend's, or my mother's. (Even very useful when flashing different ROMs, trying CM7, going back to nova, or to stock, etc.)
All other phones I've ever had could do this, except Android.
With Froyo it was already not possible (or at least I never found how) to use the SIM for messages. Only I could use the phone. But still contacts could be saved to the SIM.
But now, with Gingerbread, it's even worse: the SIM is totally ignored (except, of course, exclusively for importing its contacts).
What's the f...g problem Google has with SIMs? Why this "discrimination". Why Google doesn't like SIMs?
I have a theory

Don't really know what you're talking about man, I have LG OB [that's why I'm here of course] and when I save new contact theres this option that clearlly say "save contact to: phone, SDcard, SIM"... even if is an existing contact you can move it or copy it to the SIM... before posting I checked so I'm pretty sure theres something you didn't notice or something

I guess google wants you to maximize the cloud feature on android so SIM is not used anymore as contact storage.
But i agree with you, user has the right to choose, not significant for most of us but by providing this option maybe useful for some users like you.
Sent from my LG-P970 using Tapatalk

In LG's froyo you could save and import contacts/sms to the phone from your simcard.
But now as I'm using CM7 I don't see an option to create a contact for my simcard.
Not a big deal for me since I like this whole cloud thing. Perhaps there's an app in the market that will let you backup your stuff to your sim card?
Sent from my LG-P970 using XDA App

Felsar said:
Don't really know what you're talking about man, I have LG OB [that's why I'm here of course] and when I save new contact theres this option that clearlly say "save contact to: phone, SDcard, SIM"... even if is an existing contact you can move it or copy it to the SIM... before posting I checked so I'm pretty sure theres something you didn't notice or something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. Don't know if you read well my post.
I say: in Froyo, you can manage contacts in your SIM, though you don't have setting for "store messages in SIM" card. You have to do it one by one.
But in Gingerbread, you can't any longer use your SIM, either for storing contacts or messages.
lesp4ul said:
I guess google wants you to maximize the cloud feature on android so SIM is not used anymore as contact storage.
But i agree with you, user has the right to choose, not significant for most of us but by providing this option maybe useful for some users like you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I mean. There are still users who prefer (or who even need) to store contacts and messages in SIM. For this, Google didn't need to implement a new feature: it would have been enough with leaving the feature which was already there. There are some "hidden corners" in the Gingerbread settings where -I bet- not more than 0,01 % of the users ever get to, but still they're there! How come they've totally disregarded the "store to SIM" idea?
yeomond said:
In LG's froyo you could save and import contacts/sms to the phone from your simcard.
But now as I'm using CM7 I don't see an option to create a contact for my simcard.
Not a big deal for me since I like this whole cloud thing. Perhaps there's an app in the market that will let you backup your stuff to your sim card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there are a couple of apps that let you do it. But they're not very efficient, they're useful only for contacts (not for messages), and it's quite annoying and time consuming to use them. I liked much better the Froyo approach.

zogoibi said:
Hi. Don't know if you read well my post.
I say: in Froyo, you can manage contacts in your SIM, though you don't have setting for "store messages in SIM" card. You have to do it one by one.
But in Gingerbread, you can't any longer use your SIM, either for storing contacts or messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hehe... my mistake, you right I didn't take a good read at your post, and you're right can't seem to move/copy sms to SIM... I don't use that feature, but I do with contacts as backup, now you say you can't in GB, what about import/export to SDcard?? at least for contacts you can do that to SDcard

Yes, you can do that, save to SD. But it's not the same, there's not the same flexibility as with Froyo. And, after all, if you save to SD, you're still "bound" to the "Android universe", you can't escape: what's the use of having your contacts in your SD, Android format, unless you put that same SD to another Android phone? But imagine you want to migrate to Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry... whatever.
Maybe I'm too "nasty-minded", but I'm convinced that Google is not playing fair game here...

zogoibi said:
Hi. Don't know if you read well my post.
I say: in Froyo, you can manage contacts in your SIM, though you don't have setting for "store messages in SIM" card. You have to do it one by one.
But in Gingerbread, you can't any longer use your SIM, either for storing contacts or messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WTF!? i just upgraded my moms phone and accidentally uninstalled the PC suite back up program that had ll the programs cause the uninstall button is RIGHT next to the pc suite button. now your saying i can't use the sim contacts? i am stating for the record i can't get Froyo back.
EDIT: you can import sim contacts from the sim.

cdoublejj said:
EDIT: you can import sim contacts from the sim.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, and that's about what you can do with your SIM thanks to Google-the-Good-Guys. But think of this: in an ideal Android-Google world, a few months or couple years from now, nobody will have a single contact in their SIM because everyone had been using Android long enough; therefore, the "import for SIM" feature will be perfectly useless, and I can predict: it will be removed from future Android versions.

Painfully slow for a while... problem or time to upgrade?

Hi,
I did check other threads but I couldn't find anything directly related to this. I run my Galaxy S on an official firmware and don't have any mod installed. Well, aside from having it rooted.Firmware version is 2.3.6 xxjw4.
For a few months now, I feel the phone is getting slower and slower but now is becoming ridiculous. I mean, too many times it might take up to 5 seconds just to unlock the screen or get into the contact list. I have very few apps installed and I think I make a light use of it... basically, I use it as a phone, I use the calendar for appointments and I browse the internet. That's pretty much it. I use the full Opera browser though, and that's a heavy one. I also know about the need to sometimes unmount the SD card.
So anyway, my question is this... might it be the case that this phone is getting old and its hardware can't cope like it used to with its software? Or could it be some other problem that I don't even know how to ask about or check?
Cheers!

Maybe its time for you to flash a custom ics/jb rom? For ics , i recommend SlimIcs: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1488096

Mongopusher42 said:
Maybe its time for you to flash a custom ics/jb rom? For ics , i recommend SlimIcs: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1488096
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the beginning when I started to have this phone, I was using stock rom, I could not cope either with the tendency of this phone to micro-freeze and developpers brought a tweak called "lagfix" it saved the world for this phone... no more freeze due to non efficient memory management.
Now it's standard on any custom rom, so yes... go for a custom rom.

Badzoo said:
At the beginning when I started to have this phone, I was using stock rom, I could not cope either with the tendency of this phone to micro-freeze and developpers brought a tweak called "lagfix" it saved the world for this phone... no more freeze due to non efficient memory management.
Now it's standard on any custom rom, so yes... go for a custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thas wassup

Thanks guys and I'm sorry to acknowledged your answers so late... I thought I had set it to instant notification but I apparently didn't!
Yes, I remember the lag-fix thing, it did wonders for this phone.
I'll try the custom rom because this is just getting insane... just today it took me a good full minute to go from checking emails to get out of there to get into my contact list and return a missing call. I would go with a Galaxy III but the thing is a bit huge and second it's still at a novelty price. I'm sure I can get one much cheaper in a couple of months.
Well, thanks so much once more and I'll let you know how it goes! :good:

Done, much, much faster!! But the interface looks ... Nothing is familiar anymore, have to go through it all over again :laugh:

Kutusov said:
Done, much, much faster!! But the interface looks ... Nothing is familiar anymore, have to go through it all over again :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this MIUI v4 the interface is much easy.

Samtan4326 said:
try this MIUI v4 the interface is much easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, currently I had to revert to a xxjw4 as somehow all my contacts wouldn't be backed up. Strange thing really as it started by showing up the right names on my contact log but they would be replaced by just the numbers. I made several attempts to restore those via Titanium Backup Pro but they wouldn't stick. Couldn't find any reference to this anywhere except a single post on a forum by someone complaining about the same problem and the answer was that those with be retrieved by Google sync. Not in my case...
I haven't given up yet but for now I do need those for work so I had to go back. Funny thing is that it's no longer lagging as it was, maybe because of all the wiping data and system and cache I had to go through.

Kutusov said:
Well, currently I had to revert to a xxjw4 as somehow all my contacts wouldn't be backed up. Strange thing really as it started by showing up the right names on my contact log but they would be replaced by just the numbers. I made several attempts to restore those via Titanium Backup Pro but they wouldn't stick. Couldn't find any reference to this anywhere except a single post on a forum by someone complaining about the same problem and the answer was that those with be retrieved by Google sync. Not in my case...
I haven't given up yet but for now I do need those for work so I had to go back. Funny thing is that it's no longer lagging as it was, maybe because of all the wiping data and system and cache I had to go through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you backup your contacts try using file explorer to restore back by click on the xxx.vcf file, the contacts will restore back after you select the vcf file , good luck.

Samtan4326 said:
if you backup your contacts try using file explorer to restore back by click on the xxx.vcf file, the contacts will restore back after you select the vcf file , good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, so that's the file, thanks!! It kept asking me for a vcard on the SD card which didn't made much sense I'll have to try it during the weekend, even after rolling back I've spent the day with all those little problems you forget about fixing, like trying to take calls while driving and the phone not recognizing the bluetooth earpiece...

Moving to custom rom
I too had 2.3.6 xxjw4 on my SGS GT-I9000. Changing to a custom rom has given my phone a new lease of life! I moved to RemICS-UX, which is an ICS rom (perhaps not suitable for yourself as bluetooth not functional and development has moved on to Remics-JB, a jelly bean rom).
Beware of moving directly from stock to jelly bean custom rom. Many have run into trouble doing this. The wisdom from above is to move from stock to ICS before moving to a JB rom.
As for contacts, I previously set my phone to back up and sync my contacts to my Google account (Setting->Accounts & sync). Then, when the phone reboots after rom installation, Google syncs all my contacts back to my phone. Of course, I do nandroid, Titanium, and MyBackup backups - belt and braces!
Also don't forget to back up your efs folder with its imei details in it. Some people have lost their imei details when flashing, and this may save you the trouble of reflashing xxjw4 to recover it.

My phone is supposed to synch with my Google account and does it more often than I would wish! I feel it noticeably slows everything down when it's synhcing away. Even so, it was unable to get my contacts back. I'm really not sure what happened because when it booted up after recovery, I did had most of the right names on my contact log but a then they were replaced by the numbers only. Contact folder was always empty too...
BTW, where is the xxx.vcf located? Can't find it anywhere....

vcf backup
Kutusov said:
...snip...
BTW, where is the xxx.vcf located? Can't find it anywhere....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You create the vcf file prior to flashing. Go to Contacts->touch menu button->choose 'import/export'->choose 'export to storage'. You will be told the name of the vcf file and its location (in my own case 'mnt/sdcard/00001.vcf'. You can open the vcf file with a text editor and even make a backup on external card. To restore after flashing, go to Contacts->import/export->import from storage.

Oct-Al said:
You create the vcf file prior to flashing. Go to Contacts->touch menu button->choose 'import/export'->choose 'export to storage'. You will be told the name of the vcf file and its location (in my own case 'mnt/sdcard/00001.vcf'. You can open the vcf file with a text editor and even make a backup on external card. To restore after flashing, go to Contacts->import/export->import from storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right! :good: Just shows how much I know about this stuff
Quick update... re-read everything that was posted here and few other guides and tried to upgrade the ROM all over again during the weekend. I paid special attention to what you (Oct-Al) said about upgrading first to ICS from stock. I don't know the name of ROM but I've used the one that has a ICS333-2.0.1 and a gapps file. All went smoothly but, again, no contacts. The synch thing with Google doesn't work for me also. Synched everything to my account but nothing stays there. I probably have a lot of settings turned off as I tend to opt for maximum privacy and I even disabled that chat thing on my gmail acc.
But now that I know how to create the Vcard I'll give it another try. If all fails I guess I'll just have to fork up some money and get me the SIII although I think that phone is too big. Handled one the other day and it's great with youtube, browsing the internet, etc but carting that thing all day on your trousers' pocket shouldn't be all that nice...

Backup contacts database
Kutusov said:
Right! :good: Just shows how much I know about this stuff
Quick update... re-read everything that was posted here and few other guides and tried to upgrade the ROM all over again during the weekend. I paid special attention to what you (Oct-Al) said about upgrading first to ICS from stock. I don't know the name of ROM but I've used the one that has a ICS333-2.0.1 and a gapps file. All went smoothly but, again, no contacts. The synch thing with Google doesn't work for me also. Synched everything to my account but nothing stays there. I probably have a lot of settings turned off as I tend to opt for maximum privacy and I even disabled that chat thing on my gmail acc.
But now that I know how to create the Vcard I'll give it another try. If all fails I guess I'll just have to fork up some money and get me the SIII although I think that phone is too big. Handled one the other day and it's great with youtube, browsing the internet, etc but carting that thing all day on your trousers' pocket shouldn't be all that nice...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is another option! How confident are you with SQLite databases?
If you look in data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases you will find a database called 'contacts2.db' together with some other stuff. If you use Root Explorer (available from Play store - but not free) you can inspect the database with the internal SQLite viewer and confirm this is the database you want. Back up the folder and its contents before flashing.

Oct-Al said:
There is another option! How confident are you with SQLite databases?
If you look in data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases you will find a database called 'contacts2.db' together with some other stuff. If you use Root Explorer (available from Play store - but not free) you can inspect the database with the internal SQLite viewer and confirm this is the database you want. Back up the folder and its contents before flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny that posted this just now I was loggin in to give an update. :laugh:
So I've tried a couple more times and ended up with some problem with the external SD card that wouldn't mount and, stupid me, that's where I had the Vcard file.
Anyway, as I have all the files downloaded I'm pretty fast as trying different things now and I've just realized that all hell brakes lose AFTER I try to recover apps + data with Titanium Backup. Flashed CM9 as a pre-requisite to Slim Bean and everything was fine. I could even retrieve my contacts. But after running TB and rebooting I end up with a never ending sequence of failing processes like gmail, media, android something (they are so many and they pop up so fast I can't even read some of them).
So I'm now fairly confident I can do the upgrade but I'll have to do it in the old fashion (to me) way. I'll have to flash the ROM and then download apps by hand, one at a time.
I'm liking so much the looks and ways of Android 4.xx that there is no way I'm going to give up now :silly:

Well, all done now!!! Running Slim Bean 2.3.0 perfectly, with all the contacts. Everything seems fine, except for my calendar that I can't retrieve (there's always something). Not a big deal aside from the birthdays...
So thanks a lot to you all!! :good:

...well, final update...
I started to have a lot of stuff force closing after restoring a back-up from Titanium Backup. Stock Rom settings and data aparently don't go well with the custom Rom.
Anyway, now sorted... ordered myself an HTC One X :victory:

Droid 4 ICS 4.0.4 import directly from sim Solved

going deeper in debloating my droid 4 i took a couple risks and completely uninstalled some programs. (i cud just reflash the entire device with the stock rom if it screws up right?) it would seem that uninstalling 'my accounts' using link2sd has removed the need to sync with google accounts when trying to import sim contacts. after uninstalling 'my accounts' and 'smart actions' i did a factory reset with erase all internal memory option. on rebooting and importing my contacts from sim i was never asked for a Google account to sync to as i imported. my contacts just went straight in. please feel free to try freezing or uninstalling this app and let me know so i can confirm. so far so good.
all push notifications work. i use the email app and not gmail so let me know if u have any problems with gmail tho i dont think ud have any. as play store and all features work fine on my device. perhaps this app just acted as an intercept to the sim card import process.
p.s. i deleted a couple other system apps but i suspect'my accounts' to be the one responsible in this case. pls if u dont mind the risk give it a shot. may work across all devices. device ran on 487mb free ram on first boot by my manually debloated ics rom 6.16.217.
Sent from my DROID4

Question Smart Switch Issue

I’m trying to move across my calendars, notes and text message history from my iPhone 12 Pro Max to my S21 Ultra. The data copies and is stored in memory but Smart Switch seems to be crashing upon “arranging data”. I’ve restarted and launched the Smart Switch app again and the same thing happens.
Any suggestions please? Are there any decent methods of transferring my WhatsApp messages? Ideally, I only need a handful of my message threads and I don’t really like the thought of using some of the 3rd party apps due to them potentially them collecting my data.
Thanks.

There isn't really an easy way to export whatsapp messages from iPhone to whatsapp unless you use 3rd party app.
You can also export the chat to email....but that is pain and takes lots of time.

Ambrosios said:
There isn't really an easy way to export whatsapp messages from iPhone to whatsapp unless you use 3rd party app.
You can also export the chat to email....but that is pain and takes lots of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you.
I only need around 5 message threads, once exported to email, is there a way to import it back into WhatsApp?

Maka344 said:
Thank you.
I only need around 5 message threads, once exported to email, is there a way to import it back into WhatsApp?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure there is a guide somewhere in the wild....

Ambrosios said:
Sure there is a guide somewhere in the wild....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you kindly point me to it please?

Smart Switch can get squirrelly even when transferring from different Android OS's/devices.
You need to find a work around.
Hopefully on the same device it will backup/restore without issues. I haven't fully tested it yet.
The earlier Samsung Kies backup was a problem child too.
Always use a second backup for critical data ie photos, contacts and files in case SS fails.
The best way to go with Android is to get a model with SD card support and use the SD card as a data drive. Place all critical files etc. there including everything needed for a complete reload. Then backup the card data at least 2X on two physically separate hdds.

im a tech enthusiast i buy flagship always so i switch between apple and different android brands.
believe me its very hard to transfer whatsapp message or sms sometimes between ios and android. to save you time there is an app called dr fone that should be able to transfer everything you have ios to android and vice versa including whatsapp kik viber etc.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the help. It’s a shame that I cannot seamlessly switch between platforms in today’s day and age without issue. Too many companies trying to trap you to one platform.