Very bad news for WhatsApp users.
Google has made the decision that any cloud backup of your WhatsApp conversations will start taking up space. Translated: You will have to go to checkout if you exceed the free storage.
In 2018, WhatsApp and Google announced that you could save your conversation history to Drive without it counting against your storage quota. Now, starting in December 2023, the situation changes and the messaging app will begin to take up space.
This will only affect the beta version for now, but the new change will gradually reach all Android devices in 2024.
Personal Google accounts offer 15 GB of free cloud storage between Gmail, Drive, and Photos. This, according to Google, is “3 times more than most mobile platforms” and, in a sense, they are right. Apple, for example, only offers 5 GB of free space, for example.
Now, even with 10 GB more than the competition, it is very possible to reach 15 GB or exceed it with photos, files and videos that you have stored and more now that WhatsApp backups will begin to take up space on Drive.
Google have included a link to their storage management tools in their post to make it easier to delete large files or photos that you no longer need.
You can also delete items from WhatsApp so that they are no longer included in your next backup and, of course, you also have the option to buy extra storage: for 2 euros per month you have 100 GB in your plan.
The company promises to offer eligible users “limited, one-time Google One promotions” soon, so it may be best to wait before signing up.
Please note that this change It will only affect you if you back up your chat history using your personal account.. If you have a Workspace account through your work or another organization, you don’t have to worry about WhatsApp taking up a portion of your cloud storage space.
