WhatsApp provides the option to automatically download photos and videos to iPhone and also the option to manually download photos to the local storage on your mobile device.
If you only have a limited number of WhatsApp Contacts, you can avoid the hassle of manually downloading photos to iPhone by setting up WhatsApp to automatically download and save photos to the local storage on your iPhone.
If you have a large number of Contacts, you may prefer the option of manually downloading photos from WhatsApp, in order to prevent the possibility of your iPhone being filled up with a large number of unwanted WhatsApp Photos.
Download WhatsApp Photos to iPhone
Whether you want to setup WhatsApp to automatically download photos or prefer to manually download them to your device, WhatsApp needs to be with access to Photos App in both cases.
Hence, go to Setting > Privacy & Security > Photos > WhatsApp and select All Photos option.
Once, WhatsApp has been provided with access to Photos App, it can be configured to download photos to iPhone, both automatically and manually.
1. Automatically Download WhatsApp Photos to iPhone
Follow the steps below to setup WhatsApp to automatically download photos to iPhone.
1. Open WhatsApp > tap on Settings icon located in bottom menu.
2. From the Settings screen, go to Chats > move the toggle next to Save to Camera Roll to ON position.
After this, you should find WhatsApp automatically downloading and saving photos to the Photos App on your iPhone.
2. Manually Save WhatsApp Photos to iPhone
If you have a large number of Contacts or participate in busy WhatsApp groups, allowing WhatsApp to automatically download photos can result in your device being practically littered with unwanted photos.
In such cases, you can prevent WhatsApp from dumping unwanted photos on your iPhone by disabling “Save to Camera Roll” option and manually download and save selected photos to iPhone.
1. Open WhatsApp > tap on Settings icon located in bottom menu.
2. From the Settings screen, go to Chats > disable Save to Camera Roll option by moving the slider to OFF position.
After this, you can manually download photos from WhatsApp to iPhone by following the steps below.
1. Open WhatsApp > tap on Chats tab in bottom menu.
2. On the Chats screen, open the Chat containing Photos that you want to download to iPhone.
3. Once the Chat is open, tap and hold on the Photo that you want to download to iPhone and select the Save option in the menu that appears.
The selected WhatsApp photo will be downloaded and saved to the Photos App on your device.