Transfer WhatsApp messages and photos from Android to iOS

[kiddingguy]

My dad is getting an iPhone. He now has an Android device.

 

He would like to have his WhatsApp history on his new iPhone...

I looked up how to do this, and on some sites it states to backup the WhatsApp chats on the Android device to Google Drive.

 

Then:

 

- After the backup is created, uninstall the WhatsApp app on your Android device.

- Install and launch the WhatsApp app on your iPhone. Set it up as you would using the same phone number you had on your Android device. It will prompt you to restore the backup from your Google Drive account. Allow it to do so.

There you go. Your WhatsApp data will be restored on your iPhone.

 

But how is this latest step possible when not connecting to Google Drive, and launching WhatsApp from iOS (so nothing related and logged in into Google services)?

Plus, I also read that there are different encryption methods between Google Drive and iCloud/iOS.

 

I have found third party software, like dr.fone. But how reliable and safe/secure is this? And is it free to use for large message histories and conversations with a bunch of photos within the WhatsApp conversations?