WABetaInfo reports (via Android Police) that the feature would allow users to choose which parts of the backup would be stored on Drive. There were indications of this feature’s arrival roughly three months ago, also courtesy of WABetaInfo. The feature was in development at the time, and it seems like Google is finally ready to implement it.
WhatsApp users will soon start seeing a notification saying “Google Drive backup changing”
The newly discovered strings for this feature reveal notifications that users would receive when their storage quota is almost full. Notifications include “Google Drive almost full” and “Google Drive limit reached.” The first step, of course, is to inform users of the changes to storage management. A notification reading “Google Drive backup changing” will first appear to users before any of the changes take effect. Unfortunately, the strings don’t offer details on the amount of free Drive storage each user would get. But according to previous reports, the limit could be as low as 2GB. This would compel a large majority of the users to pay for additional storage. If the user only stores texts, the rumored 2GB storage should be sufficient. However, including photos/videos accrued over the past few years to the backup would require significantly more storage. Until now, WhatsApp users on Android had a significant advantage over their iOS brethren thanks to the uncapped storage limit. These new developments suggest that Google wants to generate a new revenue stream through WhatsApp users. With billions of users relying on WhatsApp for their day-to-day activities, this could lead to significant outcry from customers. There’s also the likelihood of users checking out alternatives that don’t have storage limitations. But we’re counting on the former. Arguably one of the most popular cloud photo storage services, Google Photos, announced plans to end support for unlimited storage of “high-quality” photos and videos in 2020. The move officially came into effect on June 1, 2021. Thankfully, the company was kind enough to offer customers the tools to remove unwanted photos and videos (blurry, out of focus, etc.) to clear up storage space.
