California: Google and WhatsApp have announced a major change in the backup policy for Android users. According to the announcements from Google and WhatsApp, starting in December, Google Drive storage (15 GB of free storage provided by the company) will be used for back up of chat history including images and videos.
When the storage space runs low, Google will suggest users to reduce the backup size by deleting unnecessary files or WhatsApp media. In addition, users can also choose Google One plan to increase their cloud storage.
According to WhatsApp, this feature will be introduced for beta users in December for testing, while the change for Android users will be introduced in the first six months of 2024 and users will be notified 30 days in advance.
The notification for the change will appear as a banner in Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
Users who do not want to use their Google account for backup can use the WhatsApp chat transfer option when moving to a new Android device.
It should be noted that Android users have been storing their WhatsApp backup on Google Drive without any limit since 2018.