I'm running into trouble transferring my WhatsApp chat history from my old iPhone 11 to a my new Pixel 9 with GrapheneOS and I can't find any info on how to deal with the specific issue I'm encountering.
I downloaded WhatsApp to my new phone using the Google Play store. I opened the app and put in the phone number associated with my account. I put in the verification code sent to my email. I skipped the option to check my Google account for backups because any on there would be from last time I had an Android phone in 2017. I selected "transfer from old phone" and "continue", then "continue" again. I gave permission for WhatsApp to "find, connect to, and determine relative position of nearby devices". I selected "get iPhone QR code" and scanned the QR code with the WhatsApp app on the iPhone. On the iPhone, there was a pop up saying "WhatsApp wanted to join wi-fi network DIRECT-WHATSAPP-68?". I selected "join", but after a few seconds another pop-up says "Unable to join the network DIRECT-WHATSAPP-68". I've gone through the above steps at least 3 times now and each time I get the same error without any indication of what to do next. I can try the QR code and join network steps infinitely, but it goes the same every time.
So I'm stuck at that point and I can't figure out a fix or workaround. I've tried restarting both phones. I've made sure WhatsApp is updated on the iPhone. I've tried giving WhatsApp every permission on the new phone. I've deleted and reinstalled WhatsApp on the new phone. I tried going into the iPhone's Wi-Fi settings to connect to the network there, which does show up as an option, but it asks for a password that I don't have. While trying to find an answer online, I learned that iPhones don't support Wifi Direct, but WhatsApp's website does give instructions on how to transfer from iPhone to Android, so I have to assume it's possible? Could the fact my phone is running GrapheneOS and not stock Android be messing it up some how? I have no idea. All thoughts on how to solve this are welcome!