Bad News for WhatsApp Users: Backup Will Cost Money

The change in the app's file storage format, on Google Drive's cloud, will require many users to pay in order to back up messages and videos over 15 gigabytes.

  (photo credit: gettyimages)
(photo credit: gettyimages)

The messaging app WhatsApp has officially announced that it will begin charging Android users for backing up messages and videos over 15 gigabytes, a service that has been free in recent years.

In practice, Android users will still be able to use Google Drive's file backup, but if there was no significant limitation until now, users who want to transfer the app's storage content from device to device, exceeding 15 gigabytes, will need to pay or delete many files. The reason for this is that the files will now be considered part of the user's storage on Google Drive, which will significantly burden it.