November 15, 2023, 12:53 p.m. |
Reading time: 5 minutes
As a years-long agreement between Google and Meta ends, a popular WhatsApp feature will soon become a cost for some users. TECHBOOK explains what Google storage volume has to do with Messenger and what affected users can do.
So far, the situation has been very convenient for WhatsApp users on Android: through an agreement between Meta and Google, the WhatsApp backups were saved automatically and free of charge in Google Drive. The particular advantage for Android users – especially compared to iOS – was that the backups did not rely on the limited data volume of the Google cloud. This can have unpleasant consequences, especially for users who have been using WhatsApp a lot for a long time. TECHBOOK reveals what you can do in this case.
First users affected from December
It became apparent as early as February 2022 that WhatsApp backups would at some point be added to the free 15 gigabytes (GB) that Google provides. Now this has been confirmed, according to an announcement from Google shows. At that time, a careful look at the code of the beta version revealed the planned change. The actual implementation will now follow from December in the current beta version and then gradually from the beginning of 2024 for all users. Besides, has WhatsApp announced, that it will notify its users 30 days before the start of this change. The note can then be found in the WhatsApp settings under “Chats” and there under “Chat backup”. Here you can also set whether or how often the chats should be backed up on Google Drive.
Until now, automatic backups on Google Drive were generally useful in order to be able to move chats and media to a new smartphone or simply restore them in the event of a defect. From 2024, however, some users will have to rethink their settings. Because the free 15 GB storage volume must also be enough for Gmail, Google Photos and Google Drive – and soon also for WhatsApp backups. Depending on how extensively you use these services, things could get pretty tight. A WhatsApp backup that contains many or many large objects can be several gigabytes in size.
Also read: Google deletes certain Gmail accounts! This is what users have to do now
Google is driving the trend towards subscription services
Until now, unlimited storage for WhatsApp backups was something that Android was clearly ahead of iOS. The competition does not store the backups with Google but in Apple’s iCloud. Here, the backups have always been part of the regular storage volume, which at just 5 GB in the free version is significantly smaller than the Google counterpart.
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Google is now sacrificing this advantage in order to attract even more subscribers to the paid cloud package “Google One”. The trend to severely restrict free services began in June 2021, as TECHBOOK reported. At that time, Google canceled unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos. Since then, the new amounts of data in the Google Photos app have also been included in the limited storage volume of Google Drive. As a result of the WhatsApp change, a subscription could actually be worthwhile for some users, but there are also other solutions.
You can do that now
Paid upgrade to Google One
If you reach the limit of your Google storage space through WhatsApp backups, you will receive a notification. This will ask you to free up more storage space. You can do this by increasing the storage capacity with a Google One subscription. The affordable basic subscription costs 1.99 euros per month, offers 100 GB of storage volume and can be used by up to five people. There are also standard and premium subscriptions. These range between 2.99 euros and 9.99 euros per month and contain 200 GB or 3 TB of storage space.
Even if WhatsApp backups become a cost factor for some users in the future, they don’t cost huge amounts of money. If you use the cloud a lot anyway, a subscription may be worthwhile. However, users who only just exceed the 15 GB limit can also use one of the free solutions.
No WhatsApp backup
The option of completely foregoing a WhatsApp backup is both convenient and radical. In this case, WhatsApp does not affect the limited storage volume. However, if you are planning to move your smartphone and want to take the chats with you, you can simply create a single manual backup. In the WhatsApp settings under the tab “Chats” and “Chat backup”, you can select the option “Only when I tap ‘Backup’” under “Back up to Google Drive”. After the move, you can then delete the backup again if necessary.
Alternatively, WhatsApp offers a transfer function between Android devices. The chat transmission runs via a QR code and Wifi Direct.
Reduce data volume
A third option is to keep the backups narrow and, if necessary, to get rid of media that takes up a lot of storage space. The same applies to objects from the other services – especially Gmail and Google Photos. A certain level of data minimalism is generally recommended, but requires regular maintenance.
WhatsApp has a built-in storage manager that helps track large files and chats. In the three-dot menu under the “Chats” tab you will find “Storage and data”. Manage Storage shows the amount of storage used and the largest chats, large items, and frequently forwarded messages. Accordingly, you can start sorting out here. It is important that, for example, images that are deleted in WhatsApp can still be saved in the gallery on the smartphone.