While the default option in WhatsApp is to automatically download photos to iPhone, it also provides the option to manually download selected photos to your device.
If you only have a few Contacts, you can set WhatsApp to automatically download Photos to iPhone by enabling the “Save to Camera Roll” option.
If you have multiple Contacts or Group Contacts, you can prevent WhatsApp from dumping random photos on your device by disabling the “Save to Camera Roll” option.
With this understanding, let us go ahead and take a look at the steps to set WhatsApp to automatically download photos to iPhone and also the steps to manually save WhatsApp Photos to iPhone.
Download Photos from WhatsApp to iPhone
WhatsApp won’t be able to download photos to iPhone, if it does not have access to the Photos App on your device. Hence, the first step is to enable WhatsApp with access to the Photos App on your device.
Once, WhatsApp has been provided with access to the Photos App, it can be configured to download photos on your device both automatically and manually.
Provide WhatsApp with Access to Photos App
As mentioned above, the first step is to make sure that WhatsApp is provided with access to the Photos App on your device.
1. Open the Setting App on your iPhone > go to Privacy & Security > Photos and select WhatsApp.
2. On the next screen, select All Photos or Add Photos Only (This prevents you from uploading photos to WhatsApp).
Now that WhatsApp has access to Photos App, you can set WhatsApp to automatically download Photos to your device by using the first method as provided below.
1. Automatically Download WhatsApp Photos to iPhone
Follow the steps below to set 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 saving photos to the Photos App on your device.
2. Manually Save WhatsApp Photos to iPhone
If you do not want unwanted WhatsApp photos being saved to iPhone, you can prevent WhatsApp from automatically downloading photos and manually download selected WhatsApp photos to your device.
Open WhatsApp > go to Settings icon > Chats and move the toggle next to Save to Camera Roll to OFF position.
After this, you can manulally 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.