Verication messages/calls drom Whatsapp not being received after transferring from ANDROID to iPhone

[SimonJ]

I am experiencing the same problem as many others reported on this forum in that having set up a new (to me) iphone I cannot receive the necessary verification message or a return call from Whatsapp to enable the latter. The discussion here appears to have finished in Jan 2023 but without an evident solution.

I can get sms and calls from other sources. I have deleted and reloaded the app. Checked the phone number etc etc. But all to no avail. Can anyone kindly advise how to proceed?

[MI5]

@SimonJ 

Check with O2 if you have iData enabled on your account Guide: How to find help & contact O2 

[SimonJ]

Many thanks MI5. You have alerted me to a cause about which I knew nothing. Idata had not been mentioned before. Even in a Applestore which I visited today. So it seems after further googling that if you have an O2 iPhone contract Idata will be included but if you merely change from an Android to an iPhone with the same sim you will have this problem. Is that correct? Next stage is to contact a human at O2 which seems impossible. Any ideas on that?

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@SimonJ 

Yes, you are correct on the iData requirements.

Can't help with how to get hold of O2 other than to try any or all of the methods here Guide: How to find help & contact O2 

Calling at 8.00am when they open may be best.

[SimonJ]

Thanks MI5. I called 202 this morning for 70 minutes. No one there knew the issue or believed me until I got them to read about it here! They did not know the term iData or that iPhone users needed to be identified within their system. Eventually they seemed to do what was necessary without knowing how. They even directed me to an O2 store for better help! Amazing that o2 has this issue my wife similarly changing with EE did not.

[MI5]

O2 is the only network that needs something specific like iData.

It harks back to the early 2000's when O2 had iPhones exclusively in the UK and it was the only way to get them to work on the technology available at the time.

Other networks came later when technology had improved so there was no need.

O2 have never caught up!