The social media giant, WhatsApp, is switching things up for Android users. According to a recent news report, WhatsApp users will have to sacrifice a portion of their Google Drive storage to continue backups.
Highlighted by GizmoChina, the meta-owned platform is no longer going to provide the free storage service on Google Drive to users. Previously, users were given the benefits of having end-to-end encrypted chat backups on Google Drive.
These backups did not take a toll on the users’ existing Google Drive storage. However, with the latest company policy changes in place the situation has changed.
Individuals who are currently using the default 15GB storage by Google Drive will now need to be careful about their storage. WhatsApp wrote in its Help Center post that once a user exceeds the given storage limit, they will have to make space for new content to resume the backups.
Here’s what the post mentions:
"In the coming months, if you choose to backup your WhatsApp chats on an Android device, your backup will start counting toward your Google Account storage limit.
If you go over the storage limit, you’ll need to free up space in your Google Account to resume backups."
The change is currently only for beta users of WhatsApp and began in December 2023. However, to remind all non-beta users, the changes will be applicable on all WhatsApp accounts in the first half of 2024.
Additionally, the app will show a notice notifying users of when the changes will begin. This will appear as a banner 30 days before the implementation of the policy when users go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
Lastly, it is important to note that users have the option not to store their chats on Google Drive. Instead, they can transfer their chats between Android devices via the WhatsApp Chat transfer capability.
This can be done by scanning a QR code and linking the device you want the chats to be transferred from and the device the chats will be transferred to. Individuals also have the choice to back up text data only removing any media files that could consume more storage.