“Starting November 12, 2018, WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards the Google Drive storage quota. Furthermore, WhatsApp backups that haven’t been updated in more than one year will be automatically removed from Google Drive storage. To avoid the loss of any backups, we recommend you manually back up your WhatsApp data before November 12, 2018.”
WhatsApp is set for huge changes in the coming months that could drastically affect how Android owners use the lauded messaging application.
WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging service, surpassing that of Facebook Messenger, WeChat and Telegram.
According to Statista, a provider of market and consumer data, roughly 1.5billion people use WhatsApp every month as of July 2018.
This compares to just 1.3 billion for Facebook Messenger and 1.04 billion for WeChat for the same period.
WhatsApp allows users to easily switch between devices and maintain their chats, media and other items by harnessing a backup feature.
The Facebook-owned chat client is renowned for its easy to use interface, end-to-end encryption and group chat features.
But in November the service is introducing two huge changes that will affect all Android users.
WhatsApp allows Android owners to back up their chats, including all media, through Google Drive.
Backup sizes were previously deducted from the user’s Google Drive storage quota, however a new deal between the tech giant and WhatsApp is changing this.
The messaging service has announced from November 12, 2018, backups will no longer deduct storage space from a user’s Google Drive account.
It then warned WhatsApp fans to “manually back up” their chats before the date to prevent any files from being lost.
The company said: “Starting November 12, 2018, WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards the Google Drive storage quota. Furthermore, WhatsApp backups that haven’t been updated in more than one year will be automatically removed from Google Drive storage. To avoid the loss of any backups, we recommend you manually back up your WhatsApp data before November 12, 2018.”
Most notably, when users back up their data to Google Drive, they miss out on one of WhatsApp’s best features.
That’s because the end-to-end encryption the service is renowned for does not
carry over to files that have been backed up, the messaging company insisted in a new update.
WhatsApp declared: “Media and messages you back up aren’t protected by WhatsApp end-to-end encryption while in Google Drive.”
Such a move from WhatsApp hints once data is removed directly from its platform it is then up to Google Drive to protect user files.
Google Drive gives everyone that signs up 15GB of free storage – however if people want more they will have to pay a monthly fee.
Backing up files on WhatsApp is easy and can be completed in a matter of minutes.
Anyone looking to do so should launch the messaging app and press the icon shaped like three bullet points in the top right hand corner of the interface.
Users should then head to “settings” and then press “chats”.
WhatsApp fans should then press “chat backup” where they will be given a prompt to manually back up their precious files.
The messaging service provides information as to when data was last backed up for added context.
