Google has warned WhatsApp users that backing up conversations, photos, and old videos "will not be free" soon. Now, messages and media on the popular messaging app will count against the Google Drive storage limit for users with Android devices. Personal Google accounts come with 15 GB of free storage; however, this storage is shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. This means any additional photos, videos, and audio files from WhatsApp may force many users to pay for extra storage.
One of Google’s community managers stated in a post on Tuesday, "As an important reminder, WhatsApp backups on Android will soon start counting against your Google account's cloud storage limit, similar to how backups for WhatsApp are handled on other mobile platforms." He added, "WhatsApp backups on Android will continue to work as long as you have available storage in your Google account. If you reach your storage limit, you will need to free up space to resume backups by removing items you no longer need."
The change will begin rolling out to WhatsApp Beta users next month before reaching all Android app users in early 2024. There are various pricing options for additional Google storage, with the cheapest monthly plan for 100 GB starting at $1.99.
This update comes amid a comprehensive overhaul of how Google manages online accounts and data, with all personal accounts inactive for more than two years being deleted in December. This move aims to enhance security for active users, although some have pointed out that it may unintentionally affect those who created accounts for young children to share memories and milestones, as well as users managing the accounts of deceased relatives.
