alt Hacker News> You don't have to use the cloud transfer with WhatsApp. You can simply transfer the backup files manually before you do the first logon. They're in the media folder.
This does not work anymore. The chats are encrypted and the key to decrypt them is not in the backup files.
I did it only a few weeks ago. They are indeed encrypted but it seems to retrieve the key from WhatsApp itself.
They wouldn't be much good as a backup if there was no way to read them of course.