For Android smartphone homeowners, it’s about to change into a little bit of a headache to avoid wasting backups of your WhatsApp messages. Customers have loved free backups of WhatsApp messages on Android for the final 5 years, however quickly these customers might want to begin paying to protect their collections of heartfelt messages from relations and bizarre memes from associates.
This transformation comes as Google Drive makes some adjustments to its knowledge storage coverage in 2024. Google at present affords 15 GB of free storage for all customers, and prospects who need extra room for his or her knowledge pays for a Google One subscription. Beforehand, Meta and Google had a deal the place WhatsApp backups on Android didn’t rely towards this 15 GB restrict, and now that association is ending.
The limitless, free backups are already gone for some beta customers, and common customers might obtain a WhatsApp notification or e mail from Google a month earlier than their backup scenario modifications. Whereas a bigger rollout is anticipated to occur early this yr, the precise timeline stays unclear, so it is best to organize now.
What’s Google’s reasoning behind this alteration? An organization spokesperson identified WhatsApp’s rising person base and the proliferation of extra data-intensive messages, like high-resolution photos, as one cause. Over 1.5 billion individuals used the messaging app month-to-month in 2018 when Google first stopped counting WhatsApp data as a part of a person’s storage restrict. Though Meta declined to supply an up to date rely of month-to-month energetic WhatsApp customers, it’s attainable that the messaging app’s person base has continued to develop steadily within the 4 years since Meta celebrated WhatsApp’s 2 billion user milestone.
One technique for decreasing the quantity of backup knowledge you want for WhatsApp is to experiment with disappearing messages for much less vital texts that you just don’t actually care about saving. Additionally, take into account scaling back the storage in your Gmail or Google Photographs to unlock more room and preserve your Google account below the 15 GB restrict. Have so many messages to backup that weaning it down feels unattainable? You could want to contemplate upgrading your storage allotment by paying for a Google One plan.
What’s Included With Google One?
The most affordable Google One tier for private accounts begins at $2 a month or $20 a yr for entry to 100 GB of storage. That 100 GB of area may be shared by as much as 5 individuals, or you possibly can preserve all of it to your self. Want much more room? A 200 GB plan for Google One prices $30 a yr, and a big 2 TB plan prices $100 a yr. Hold an eye fixed out for potential offers, as Google would possibly provide trials to new customers because the WhatsApp backup change rolls out.
Together with the elevated space for storing, Google One subscribers get entry to extra modifying options for Google Photographs, just like the Magic Eraser software. Subscribers to the 200 GB plan additionally obtain 3 p.c retailer credit score again when procuring the Google Store, and people on the two TB plan get 10 p.c again. To not be confused with the Google Play Retailer for smartphone apps, this retailer credit score applies to the net Google Retailer the place the Pixel 8, Pixel Buds Pro, and different Google {hardware} is obtainable for buy. Try our breakdown of Google One for the whole lot that’s included with the completely different tiers.
Take into account the WhatsApp Chat Switch
Whereas it’s not the identical as having your WhatApp messages backed up at no cost, the app does now embody a characteristic that makes it simpler to switch your chat historical past from one Android cellphone to a different, or from one iPhone to a different. Go to the FAQ section of WhatApp’s website for a full walkthrough of the method, which might come in useful the following time you improve your handset. Switching from Android to iPhone, or vice versa? It’s nonetheless attainable to switch chats, though some extra steps are involved. You’ll must have the same phone number on each gadgets for chat transfers to work.
One other caveat price declaring is that your telephones should be linked to the Web. The WhatsApp information recommends connecting each telephones to an influence supply as properly throughout the switch, though no cords had been plugged into the Android telephones in a video demonstrating the feature posted by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on social media.
