WhatsApp chat backup on Android will soon cost you money

WhatsApp has officially updated its terms of service related to chat backup on Android devices. According to the latest update, WhatsApp chat backups on Google Drive will no longer be free and will count against your Google account storage.

The new policy is already applicable to WhatsApp beta users, and the same will be implemented for regular users in the next few months. This change isn’t unprecedented, as WhatsApp has long-limited chat backups on iOS devices to the available storage quota on iCloud, which is just 5 GB on the free tier.

Google currently provides 15 GB of free cloud storage with each account. However, this storage is shared among various services like Gmail, Google Photos, and others. Users who use WhatsApp on an Android device might need to opt for a Google One subscription to fully back up their chats along with media files.

Google has been actively promoting its Google One Cloud service. Notably, the company ceased offering free unlimited storage on Google Photos, prompting many users to subscribe to Google One to continue backing up their photos and videos.

If you have sufficient free storage on Google Drive within the 15 GB quota, you can continue backing up your WhatsApp chats for free. Additionally, you can delete unwanted content from WhatsApp to reduce the file size before uploading.

Moreover, WhatsApp allows users to back up only text messages without media (photos and videos), significantly reducing the chat backup size. It’s worth noting that WhatsApp also enables users to transfer chats from one phone to another without relying on cloud backup, which is useful for frequent smartphone switchers.