Google Drive is at the center of your Android phone’s usage, at least until you actively decide to use analternative for cloud storage. Drive serves as the repository for your Workspace documents, Photos backups, and even WhatsApp backups. However, Google didn’t really mind the latter, and WhatsApp backups don’t count against your storage limit. However, the impact of such policies becomes evident at the scale of WhatsApp and Drive’s operations. Unfortunately, it looks like you will have to pay for additional storage if you want to back up more WhatsApp data to Drive from December.
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WhatsApp is the go-to messaging app for billions of people worldwide who use the app to exchange and share messages, media, and other information. The app allows you toschedule backups to the cloud. You can choose the backup frequency and configure what should be backed up. All this data can be useful if you’re frequently switching phones, or if you wish to retain access to very old messages and exchanges. By default, automated backups are stored in Google Drive. You canencrypt these backupsfor added security, and find them easily when you need them.
Up until 2018, billions of WhatsApp users were judicious with what they backed up to the cloud because the file ate into the free storage Google provided. That year, though, Google and WhatsApp decided tomake backups free, so they don’t count against your allocated storage space. In January 2022, we spotted code suggesting the companies arereconsidering their decision, and WhatsApp backups will start eating into your Drive storage once again.
The officialannouncement from Googleis here (viaMishaal Rahman), revealing backups will count towards your Google Account storage space utilization for beta testers starting in December. The same policy will subsequently apply to stable channel WhatsApp users from early next year. Moreover, this change only applies to free-tier Google accounts which only have 15 GB of Drive storage shared between Photos, Workspace apps, and now WhatsApp. Google says people with a Workspace subscription for work or school won’t be affected by this change.
Considering that people share several petabytes of messages and media every day, it is no surprise that offering billions of people a free backup option isn’t sustainable, especially when WhatsApp isn’t a paid service for the end users. With backups consuming precious cloud storage space, you’ll have to be judicious about what you want to store in Drive. Adding WhatsApp media to the mix can dramatically increase the size of your backups, and it may be wise toinvest in a NAS, so you can back them up on local storage.
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Alternatively, you can cough up the fee for additional Drive storage available through a Google One subscription. However, that’s a recurring payment for convenience — exactly what both the tech companies are hoping WhatsApp users will do when they realize 15 GB of Drive storage doesn’t suffice for their oversize backups. You will need to clear up storage space or make the backup size smaller if it hits the limit.
