LINE chat history to another device

Since it´s quite easy with WhatsApp to move the backup via cloud from one device to another the way for LINE is a bit different...

And in general it can become a bit more time-consuming - depending on how many chat partners you have in your history. 

But it´s not too difficult: You go on your old phone, open the first chat and select 'Chat settings' in the upper right of the screen.

Then select 'Back up chat history' and select 'All' (which includes also the media files) to backup the whole chat history with that contact in a zip file to send it to your email address.

Do that with all your LINE chats you want to save. Then use your new phone, install LINE, log in and verify your account. Now download all the chat history zip files from your mail account to your phone.

In the next step you open the first contact for a chat, go again to 'Chat settings', but this time you chose 'Import chat history'.

Initially I copied the files to the LINE folder on the phone, but there was no need. LINE gets the data also straight from the downloads folder (see screenshot).

Follow these steps now one chat by one to get everything back from your old device to your new device. 

Overall it´s a bit more work - but the result is as wished.

Top 5 Japanese Language Learning Apps for Android

As you may noticed through the topics of my articles about certain anime games or language-related stuff - I am a fan of Japan and their language and this article shows you my Top 5 apps to learn that language.

Some of these apps I'm using for a longer time, some not even a year. But altogether they're quite helpful while being on the run or waiting for someone/something to repeat vocabulary, gain new knowledge or remaining connected with the Japanese language.

1. AnkiDroid

I'm using AnkiDroid for a longer time already, even for other languages. It's an app with large vocabulary lists which you can either download or create yourself. After seeing a new word you can decide if it's easy to memorize or not and thus you decide when you get to see it again - in a few minutes or even in a few months or years (just if you saw it quite often already).

In terms of Japanese you should start to learn hiragana and katakana at the beginning. I can say for me AnkiDroid played a big part in learning these first around 100 characters. And you should also create your own deck with Japanese words you collect through going through books, watching anime or hearing in video games.

2. Jsho
'Jsho' is an app named after the Japanese name for 'dictionary' (じしょ), because IT IS an dictionary. The app is an offline version of the famous Japanese dictionary website 'jisho.org'. 

This application is already quite helpful at the beginning because you can search for words by using our characters as well as Hiragana or Katakana. And this app has also a connection to AnkiDroid: Once you've found a certain word you can send it to your Anki deck.


3. IQQI Japanese

After being able to memorize the first characters it would also be helpful to actually write them. That's why you need IQQI Japanese! It's an alternate keyboard with included Japanese characters. You can easily switch from our Latin letters to both Hiragana and Katakana - even Kanjis can be chosen after putting the right characters together. 

With that you can type new words into your Anki decks by yourself and write messages to someone in Japanese.



4. Memrise

Another great learning app, but even more developed in many ways. There are several decks in any language available, so also in Japanese. The apps even has a points scoring system included where repetition brings you more points than new words. 

You see the word in English and you have several hiragana/katakana/Kanji characters and you have to put them together in the correct way - or the other way around. Or you listen to three Japanese words in order to find the correct meaning. Or putting sentences together in the right order. And everything brings points - as well as knowledge and experience of course.

If you have friends using the same app you can compare who of you did the most points during the last week/month or even in total.


5. LINE

With WhatsApp nowadays being the the messenger with the most users in the world, there are still other similar apps. Like LINE which is really big in Japan and a few other Asian countries. So if you want to communicate with Japanese people in order to improve your language skills it's quite important to have that messenger. 

Like in WhatsApp you can also do calls and video calls - which were introduced way earlier than in WhatsApp. 

And like in Facebook you can post pictures on your timeline and others can comment. And the PC application is way more secure and better than the WhatsApp version. 

Summary
So these were the five free apps which were and still are quite helpful for me improving my Japanese. Of course there are also apps teaching you the grammar better and so on, but this overview is great if you are 'on the run'.

Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below.

Is LINE better than WhatsApp?

(c) LINE (c) WhatsApp

LINE is a messenger and especially in Japan often used. But is it better than the even more popular WhatsApp? Here's what I found out.

Recently, I wanted to know how the messenger works and if LINE has some things better solved than WhatsApp. Interestingly, there're a few things.

But from the beginning: I downloaded LINE from Google Play Store and after starting I could already see who from my phone contacts also has this app installed. Quite WhatsApp-like. The chat itself is as easy as it should be.

The emojis are in comparison to WhatsApp really different. The emoji list starts with white-colored heads, but there are also some of the already known yellow faces. LINE also has more animal-referring emojis. So basically it's different. In addition LINE has stickers (bigger, moving icons) like you may know from Facebook, which WhatsApp hasn't included.

Like in WhatsApp there are also free calls included, but LINE already has the video call feature. Video calls are expected to be added in WhatsApp in the future, but in terms of that LINE lies ahead by now.

I also saw that there's a PC version for LINE. With an email verification - which includes a few exchanges of numbers to make the connection more secure - it's also possible to login on your computer. It's somehow reminiscent to the classic ICQ. A real messenger software installed on your PC.

And everytime you connect with your PC your phone gets a message. So in case of an inauthorized usage you'll be informed. And your phone don't have to be online to use LINE on your PC. Unlike WhatsApp Web where your phone needs permanent Internet connection to be used.

The whole identification with your email address is something WhatsApp also needs in the future. Also in this point is see that LINE is ahead.

Another interesting feature in LINE is the included timeline - something we all know from Facebook and that's something WhatsApp doesn't have. Anyway, it gives LINE users the opportunity to share content with anyone they want from their list. Ok, WhatsApp has broadcast messages and the profile status - the last one LINE also has - but it's a entirely different way to share a message. In the privacy settings you can also decide which one of your friends is allowed to see it and who not. I wouldn't say WhatsApp should have that but it's an interesting approach.

Also interesting is the 'KEEP' feature: LINE offers every user 1 GB of cloud space to save pictures, messages and so on. So you can touch a message and chose 'Save to Keep' in order to move it into the cloud. Same as WhatsApp LINE has also the search option to find special messages with keywords.

Additionally LINE has also included a coins system in order to purchase more stickers or even games and apps.

So let's take a look at this overview to see the important points:

Where LINE is better 

- video calls included
- login with email address or ID (not just phone number)
- a PC software version and the phone doesn't need to be online 

Where WhatsAPP is better 

- no in-app purchases

Where both can improve 

- a better chat backup as an HTML, not just a colorless text file

Conclusion

Comparing to WhatsApp LINE has a few features which the worlds no.1 messenger doesn't have yet. But I expect these to be added to WhatsApp soon - especially video calls. A possible email verification is also on my wish list. Same as independent usage from other devices.

The only advantage I see in WhatsApp is that there are no in-app purchases. Even the subscription has been changed to 'forever free'. Else it's worth to mention that WhatsApp has more than a billion users and LINE just around 220 million, but it only looks less in comparison. It's still a lot. Else, they're pretty equal in my view.

But there's one thing where I see both can improve: The chat backup and export. Both WhatsApp and LINE only have an export option as a colorless text file. I'd like to have an HTML like with in 'MyPhoneExplorer'. That tool made it possible with SMS exports in a nice website file.

But anyway. It's worth to test and use LINE, but you just need someone to communicate with. You usually find more WhatsApp  than LINE users, but in Asia it seems easier. Just give it a go and you'll see.