WHATSAPP users have been warned that they’ll no longer get free unlimited backup storage for their chats starting from next month.
Millions of users on Android have been able to store WhatsApp data on Google Drive without having to worry about space limitations.
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But starting from December, the perk will be no more.
It brings Android in line with iPhone‘s iCloud which is already limited.
The move means any chat backups you make will now eat into your Google Drive allowance.
Google Drive offers 15GB free to everyone which is easily gobbled up by data-heavy photos and videos.
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So you may well have to pay for extra Google Drive storage to keep everything.
Google says the change will affect WhatsApp Beta users first from December.
Then it will “gradually” cover all WhatsApp users on Android starting early next year.
“WhatsApp backups on Android will continue to work, as long as you have available space within your Google Account storage,” Google warned.
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“If you hit your storage limit, you’ll need to free up space to resume backups by removing items you do not need.
“Going forward, WhatsApp backup experience on Android will be in line with how it works on other platforms, with the added benefit of Google’s 15 GB of storage available at no charge.”
Unsurprisingly, users have not taken the news very well.
“Very good. A good reason to uninstall it,” one wrote.
“See you WhatsApp…. hello telegram,” another commented.
“Users experience is degrading so much at a fast pace… it’s amazing how companies are pushing us to pay more anf more and more,” a third added.
How to avoid paying for Google Drive storage
If you don’t want to pay to upgrade your Google Drive storage there are ways to avoid it.
The most obvious thing to do is clear out your chats.
Media such as video and photos take up loads of space, so it might be time to delete some.
You may want to keep precious memories but all those memes that people send can probably go.
To do this, open WhatsApp and tap Settings.
Go to Storage and Data.
Then select Manage Storage.
Here, WhatsApp will show you a number of ways to reduce storage.
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It’ll show you bulky files that are larger than 5MB, as well as content that’s been forwarded many times.
You can even see which chats are taking up the most amount of space.
Best WhatsApp tips and hacks
Wondering how to get the most out of WhatsApp? Read on to find out about all the hidden features, tips and hacks for the social media platform…
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
