The free Google Drive storage space provided to Android users for keeping their chat history, including photos and videos, is being discontinued by the social networking platform WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta. The recent modifications indicate that users will soon have to choose between joining up for a Google One membership or having their WhatsApp data saved on Google Drive count against the 15GB storage limit.
Google warned users in a November post that the new features would be intimidating: “As an important heads up, WhatsApp backups on Android will soon start counting toward your Google Account cloud storage limit, similar to how WhatsApp backups are handled on other mobile platforms. This change will first start rolling out to WhatsApp Beta users starting in December 2023, then gradually to all WhatsApp users on Android starting early next year.”
According to what the company had stated, WhatsApp would begin informing users 30 days in advance with a banner under WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat backup, and the new changes will begin to roll out to all users in 2024.
The notification that “Backups will start using your Google storage in the next few months” is now displayed in our version of the WhatsApp Beta client.
How do you manage the storage on WhatsApp without purchasing a Google One subscription?
WhatsApp still allows users to move these files between Android devices, even though signing up for Google One is the apparent solution for consumers who use more than the 15GB storage limit.
For instance, while switching to a new Android smartphone, users can easily utilise the WhatsApp chat transfer option if they are not interested in keeping their chat history on their Google account.
Notably, since WhatsApp doesn’t provide free storage on iOS, these modifications will just impact Android users. In addition, Apple provides 5GB of free storage to non-paying users, whereas Google offers 15GB.