WhatsApp has confirmed that your backed up conversations will no longer use up your Google Drive storage, despite still using the cloud storage service.
Compared to the backups of your photos, videos, and other files, your WhatsApp conversations are unlikely to take up too much space, but it’s still nice to not have to worry about them counting towards your total, especially if you’re on one of Google Drive’s free storage tier options.
Although the transition is starting today, it won’t be available for everyone straight away. However, you should have the new functionality by November 12th, GSMArena reports.
The only thing you need to bear in mind is that Google has said any backups that are more than a year old will be automatically removed. You can restore these old backups if you want to ensure you don’t lose any messages, but you should be aware that doing so will automatically delete any messages that you’ve sent or received more recently.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to easily merge your new and old chats, so we’d imagine that most people will simply wave goodbye to their old messages.
WhatsApp is a service that’s been around for so long that it’s difficult to know which direction it’s going to develop in.
Most recently, there’s been a lot of focus around placing limits on how easily users can forward messages to hundreds of people in an attempt to limit the spread of fake news and misinformation.
But other major updates have also added the ability to delete recently sent messages, and share your live location (a personal favourite).
