Soon, WhatsApp chat backups can be counted towards your GDrive storage. Last month, the company updated its Android terms and conditions but didn’t share details about when it would be implemented.
A recent report states that WhatsApp has already made the changes for those who are using the beta version. The GDrive storage of users who use WhatsApp will be affected by the backup, which includes images, videos and chat history.
Meta, the messaging platform owned by Meta, also announced that the change would apply to all WhatsApp Android users in the first half 2024. They will be informed 30 days before the date of the change. The notification is displayed as a banner under ‘Chat Backup,’ in the app’s settings for ‘Chat.
Google offers tools for managing storage that allow users to delete large files and photos in bulk. These files date back to the time when Google changed its Google Photos backup policy. The other suggestion would be to delete items from WhatsApp. This will “reduce storage used for your next WhatsApp backup.”
Google One offers 100GB of storage for $1.99 per month.
These changes apply to Google Accounts for individuals. Your storage quota won’t be affected if you subscribe to Google Workspace through your work or school.
Android users lose advantage
This brings WhatsApp backups on Android up to par with other platforms. Android users enjoy five years of WhatsApp back-ups that do not count against Google Drive storage limitations. This privilege was not extended to iOS users.
WhatsApp Chat Transfer is an option for users who don’t want to use Google Accounts to backup their data when switching to a new Android Device. The transfer is wireless as long as both devices have Wi-Fi on.
Google has assured that WhatsApp backups won’t change, except for the possibility of storage limits impacting whether you continue to save your data in the cloud. When you delete something in WhatsApp, the data will be deleted from your cloud backup. This can save you space on Drive.