WhatsApp chat history and media backups for Android users are stored separately from their Google account cloud storage. With backups of the popular instant messaging app not taking up space on Google accounts, Android users have had the benefit of additional cloud storage space available for their photos, videos, emails and other files. That is going to change. Google and WhatsApp have announced that WhatsApp backups on Android will start counting towards Google Account cloud storage limit starting later this year. Bear in mind, every personal Google account comes with 15GB of free cloud storage. WhatsApp chat and media backups taking up storage space on Google account would thus cut down the share reserved for other media and files on Android smartphones.
Google announced the changes coming to WhatsApp backups on Android in its support page, stating that WhatsApp backups on Android will continue to work, as long as users have available cloud storage space on their Google accounts. “If you hit your storage limit, you’ll need to free up space to resume backups by removing items you do not need,” the post said.
These changes to WhatsApp backup on Android devices will start rolling out to WhatsApp Beta users in December, with a gradual rollout to all Android users in early 2024. It’s worth noting, that other platforms like Apple’s iOS already count WhatsApp chat and media backups toward cloud storage. iOS users get 5GB free iCloud storage, with paid tiers of additional storage starting at Rs. 75 a month in India.
