Android users: WhatsApp chats, photos and videos will no longer be free
Google has warned WhatsApp users that backup storage for old chats, photos, and videos will soon no longer be free. Here's everything you need to know...
Messages and media on the popular messaging app, WhatsApp, will now count towards a user's Google Account cloud storage limit if they use an Android device.
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Personal Google Accounts come with 15GB of free storage, however, that is shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. This means any additional photos, videos, and audio files from WhatsApp may force many users to pay for additional storage space.
The change will begin rolling out to WhatsApp Beta users next month, before coming to all WhatsApp users on Android in early 2024.
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Of the roughly three billion WhatsApp users around the world, an estimated 73 percent of them access the app on Android.
There are several price options for additional Google storage, with the cheapest monthly plan for 100GB of data starting at $1.99 (R37).
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The update comes amid a major overhaul of how Google manages online accounts and data, with all personal accounts that have been inactive for more than two years set to be deleted in December.