In 2021, WhatsApp started to work on ending the unlimited Google Drive storage option for its backups on Android devices. Later in January of 2022, it was reported that Google would offer a limited plan made solely for WhatsApp cloud backups. Now, it is officially confirmed that Google and WhatsApp will completely stop giving unlimited storage quota for WhatsApp backups.
This means that the WhatsApp backup experience on Android will soon align with iOS. For those not aware, WhatsApp backups count towards the iCloud storage for the user’s account. On the other hand, Google and WhatsApp had an agreement due to which the same wasn’t the case on Android, until now.
Google shared the development via a post on its support website which read that “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”
When will the change roll out?
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.
This means that WhatsApp backups on Android will continue to work, as long as you have available space within your Google Drive storage. If you end up filling your storage limit, you’ll need to free up space to resume backups by removing items you do not need.
What can you do to keep the backups running?
Google already offers 15GB of data to every personal Google account for free. So if your WhatsApp backup size is within the limits, then there’s nothing to worry about.
However, if your cloud storage is filling up fast, then it’s time to delete the unnecessary items from your cloud storage or WhatsApp. Or, you can also consider buying a Google One subscription, which can offer you up to 2 TB of cloud storage depending on the plan you choose. The basic plan offers 100GB of storage which should be more than enough for the majority of the people.