Using WhatsApp on Android is going to be a little costly to you very soon as the messaging platform has officially updated its terms of service related to chat backup.
So far, you could simply backup your chats and media on Google Drive and the data did not count against your Google account storage. Well, it appears that is going to end very soon.
According to reports, WhatsApp chat backups on Google Drive will no longer be free and will count against your Google account storage.
The policy change is already applicable to the WhatsApp Beta users and will come to the regular users in the next few months.
While this may come as a shock to Android users, WhatsApp has for a long time limited chat backups on iOS devices to the available storage quota on iCloud, which is just 5GB. For more storage space, one has to pay.
It should be noted that every Google user currently gets 15 GB of free cloud storage. This space is shared among various Google services like Gmail, Photos, and others.
So when you backed up your WhatsApp chat on Google Drive, it didn’t take up any space from the 15 GB. But it appears, users on Android might need to opt for the paid Google One subscription to back up chats and media files.
There are still a few ways through which you can utilize the free 15 GB space on your Google account.
Here’s how:
Be a sensible user and delete those unwanted media files you have been storing to wish Diwali, Holi, and Happy Birthdays. That will save a great amount of space. Delete any unwanted files and chats you have.
If you haven’t used up the 15 GB storage space, you can continue uploading your WhatsApp chats to Google.
WhatsApp also allows you to back up only text messages without media (photos and videos). It significantly reduces the chat backup size.
WhatsApp also allows its users to transfer chats from one phone to another without relying on cloud backup, which is useful for frequent smartphone switchers.
If nothing else works for you, you can opt for the most affordable Google One subscription. For Rs 130 per month or Rs 1300 a year, you will get 100 GB of cloud storage (inclusive of the 15 GB) along with additional Google Photos features and more.