One of the main advantages of using WhatsApp on mobile phones is that it allows us to make backup copies of all the information we want without posing a problem in cloud storage because they do not take up space. Until now we had unlimited backups but this is going to change and WhatsApp warns that free unlimited backups on Android are ending. The bargain is over.
Until now, if you have an Android mobile phone and use WhatsApp, you will know that the backup in the cloud is done automatically every night and that it stores all the content of your chats in Google Drive without taking up space in your account. It does not subtract gigs. But now this space will start counting and we will not have unlimited storage.
New backups
WhatsApp will activate this new feature in the beta version of the application starting December 2023. It will arrive gradually for all users and will arrive for everyone in the coming months. At the end of the year it would arrive for those who have the beta version and during the first half of 2024 it will arrive for the rest of the users, although it will not do so without warning and suddenly. From the messaging application they ensure that WhatsApp will provide sufficient notice so that we are prepared: it will notify you with a minimum of 30 days in a banner in the backup section. Of course, it is recommended that you enter periodically to see if the banner appears and if they are going to make the change.
Why is it important that we pay attention and be prepared? Because It will be the only way we can store our chats, images or videos on WhatsApp. The application has a local backup that is made on your mobile phone, but if you change your smartphone or lose it or it is stolen, having the content in the cloud is the only way to recover everything you had stored.
In the case of iPhone users, on the other hand, there would be no problem. On a phone with iOS, the application synchronizes with the iCloud storage and this storage is 5 GB per user, so for some time now if you have an iPhone you have to settle for storing little on WhatsApp if you don’t want to pay more gigs.
Will we have to pay?
It is not clear how this change in conditions will affect us. For the moment it would not pose any problem beyond the fact that we will begin to subtract space in Google Drive. Keep in mind that having a cloud account offers us 15 GB so we would not really have to do without free backup copies but rather we would have fewer gigabytes to dedicate to other files, documents, photos, emails, etc. Furthermore, in the case of having larger copies (something quite unusual) we would have the option of pay for more storage of Google. Although it is not free, we would not have to give up the WhatsApp backup but rather adapt to the change.
In addition, the app is expected to take action and give us more options. What it does seem is that Whatsapp is working to allow chat history transfers without having to depend on Google Drive and allowing other cloud services, something that is good news for those users looking for an alternative.
