The update to limit chat backups on Google Drive for WhatsApp beta testers is introduced five years after the collaboration between Google and WhatsApp that initially provided unlimited chat backups on the platform.
WhatsApp has reportedly begun dropping support for unlimited chat backups on Google Drive for users who have signed up to receive beta updates of the popular messaging app. The platform will no longer offer free cloud storage for users on Android smartphones — similar to users who access WhatsApp on iOS. While the change currently affects beta testers, the Meta-owned messaging platform is also expected to discontinue free storage on Google Drive for all users on Android smartphones in the coming weeks or months.
MySmartPrice reports that WhatsApp has started to drop support for unlimited chat backups on Google Drive for beta testers on Android. The app will display a banner in the app’s settings under Chats > Chat backup informing users that the changes will go into effect within 30 days. The change could be rolling out to testers in batches — Gadgets 360 was unable to reproduce the message on WhatsApp for Android after updating to the latest beta version from the Play Store.
Last November, WhatsApp and Google announced that the firms were discontinuing unlimited chat backups via Google Drive for users on Android. The change was supposed to roll out to beta testers in December and to all users in the first half of 2024, according to the timeline provided by the messaging platform.
Beta testers affected by the change will receive a banner notification, informing them that chat backups will start counting toward their Google Drive storage quota after a one-month grace period.
The shift in storage policy comes five years after the collaboration between WhatsApp and Google that initially offered unlimited chat backups without using up Google Drive space. While Google Drive provides 15GB of free storage, surpassing the 5GB offered by Apple and Microsoft, this move aligns with Google’s broader strategy to limit access to free storage on its cloud services. In February 2022, Google ended support for unlimited “original” photo backups for Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL users, three years after the phones were launched. The company had previously discontinued unlimited and free photo backups for all users in 2020, citing the need to manage the growing number of uploads on the platform.