WhatsApp Catastrophe

[Mikeo512]

In a terrible muddle here!

My wife had an iPhone 5s (12.5.5) and when she started to use WhatsApp, I think it was via this 5s with its original SIM and number.
When she got a new iPhone SE (15.4.1), I seem to remember that the SIM from the old 5s was transferred to her new SE. (But not 100 per cent sure.)

I took over her old iPhone 5s and am pretty sure that I got myself a new SIM with a new number. (I hardly ever use this iPhone, BTW.)
The other day, I casually downloaded the WhatsApp app from the App Store to my 5s but when I tried to use it, my wife suddenly lost touch with all her WhatsApp friends! I at once deleted the app from my 5s but she is still unable to communicate with any of her contacts although the app is still on her iPhone.

How can her contacts (around 15 people) be restored to her iPhone? No back-up was ever made as far as I know.
Should she just delete the WhatsApp app from her SE, download a new one and start all over again?

It’s a bit unlikely but if at some time in the future I should ever want WhatsApp for my 5s, how can I do this without causing the same kerfuffle?

Many thanks in advance.
M

 

[Raz0rEdge]

WhatsApp is phone-number based, so it's interesting that your new number would somehow mess up her account.

Is her phone backed up to iCloud or a Mac?

If so, you can restore the backup to get back all the info into WhatsApp on her phone.

 

[Mikeo512]

It's hard to remember the circumstances.
I'm pretty sure that her iPhone is not backed-up.
It may well be the case that she started to use WhatsApp from the 5s via the number that I still have on that phone.
It's possible that when she got her new SE, she also got a new SIM with a new number.
On the other hand, there has been no WhatsApp app in the 5s for a couple of years or so.
It's possible that I deleted a WhatsApp app from the 5s when I took it over.
In any case, I have never received any WhatsApp messages that were intended for her.
The old messages are not really so important but she needs to get back in touch with all her contacts.
Does it seem that she should perhaps start again from scratch?
M

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I'm not a big WhatsApp user, but I imagine that if she were to re-add the folks she used to talk to as contacts within the app, she should be able to communicate with them again.

It might be easier to have them all send her a note first and then she can save the contact info and go from there.

 

[Mikeo512]

But wait a mo ... just looked at her iPhone.
In the lists of items showing green under iCloud, there is indeed WhatsApp in green.
Where might I go from here?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If you are talking about Settings->Apple Id->iCloud, then that means that iCloud backup is enabled and WhatsApp is one of the apps whose data is being backed up.

If you do an iCloud restore, you will get back whatever was backed up the last time the backup happened.

But if you don't care about previous conversations, then you can ignore this.

 

[Mikeo512]

Well, if it works and if all the previous stuff is there, I might as well give it a try. Would "an iCloud restore", also restore the ability to communicate again with her friends? And when you say "iCloud restore", is this something that is done from the iPhone in question? I will investigate but if you have a pointer or two, that would be helpful.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

The way to restore the backup is to erase the contents of the phone and then once having done so, you'd set it up as a new phone again. During that process, it'll ask you if you want to use an iCloud backup to restore.

However, this is quite a drastic path to follow, ensure that you go to Settings->Apple ID->iCloud and on top confirm that you have iCloud Backup set to on. If so, click on it and click on Back Up Now at the bottom. You can also see when the last backup was.

I'd also recommend waiting for what others have to say about this situation, especially those who use WhatsApp more than I do and they might have other things to try.

 

[Mikeo512]

Yes, I can see that there was indeed a back-up on "Tuesday". The iPhone is set to auto back-up "daily". So should I perhaps delete the app and download it again?

 

[Mikeo512]

Thanks again ... there's no panic so I will wait and see what other replies there may be. But you say, "The way to restore the backup is to erase the contents of the phone and then once having done so, you'd set it up as a new phone again. During that process, it'll ask you if you want to use an iCloud backup to restore."

But does that imply a total erase of the entire iPhone or just of the WhatsApp? A total erase would indeed be a drastic move. I would not want to risk that just for the sake of recovering her Chats.

Anyway, renewed thanks for your help ... will be standing by for other comments from others. - M

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Yeah, the restore would require you to remove everything and then get everything back. Not sure if there is a way to restore just a small subset. Which is indeed drastic for just WhatsApp (my opinion, of course )

 

[Mikeo512]

The matter is resolved - thanks for all the help.
In the end my wife deleted the WhatsApp app and reinstalled it. The iPhone then replaced the contents from i-Cloud.

 

[badshoehabit]

The matter is resolved - thanks for all the help.
In the end my wife deleted the WhatsApp app and reinstalled it. The iPhone then replaced the contents from i-Cloud.

Woman power!