WhatsApp backups on Android now consume Google Drive space

WhatsApp's unlimited backup on Android phones has come to an end. From now on, the space for messenger records that are stored in the Google Drive will be counted normally.

The information is from Android Police, which detected the change in one of the team's accounts. When analyzing what was consuming space on a profile, the site noted that “WhatsApp” is now a service that can take up a lot of space on Google Drive — a few GBs, if you maintain a lot of chats and share a lot of media.

WhatsApp now appears as an item that consumes space in the account.Source: Android Police

For now, WhatsApp has not yet officially commented on the start of the charge. The feature was initially found in November 2023 in the Beta app and confirmed by the company, but it guaranteed that would notify users via a banner up to a month before billing begins.

In tests carried out by Android Police and replicated by TecMundo, When accessing the backup screen on Android, however, no warning was found.

Free backup was a benefit since 2018

Although it already appears for some users, it is possible that many are still not charged for the backup. According to the application's support page, the measure “will be implemented for all people who use WhatsApp on Android throughout the first half of 2024“.

Also according to the official statement from WhatsApp, “backup will be done according to your Google Account storage limit”. In other words, conversations stop being saved if you no longer have space in Drive.

The process is only restarted when the user cleans up or increases the maximum space on the platform. This free backup of conversations and shared media has been an Android benefit since 2018.

As Android Police points out, it is possible that Google and Meta will now suggest subscribing to Google One. This is the paid version of the company's account, with several benefits that include greater storage space.