WhatsApp, Facebook’s instant messaging platform, has been working on a feature that will allow its users to manage their chat backups on the cloud (Google Drive or iCloud). The new feature allows WhatsApp users to manage the chat backups by removing unnecessary contents (like photos and documents) from their cloud backups.
Besides offering end-to-end encrypted backups, the newly released version (WhatsApp for Android beta 2.21.21.7) will soon allow its users to manage the backup size. Known as ‘Manage backup size’, the feature will allow WA users to exclude specific media (like photos and videos) from being included in the next backup. As reported by WABetaInfo, the feature is currently being tested and is only available to Android users, who will be able to choose what content they wish to store on the cloud. There is no specific release date yet, but the WA team expects to roll out the feature soon.
What is the main reason for this update? According to the report, WhatsApp backups don’t count toward your Google Drive, but Google may soon stop offering unlimited storage for WhatsApp backups. Google may limit the storage space to 2000 MB per user, but even WABetaInfo describes this as a rumour.
WhatsApp rolled out end-to-end encrypted chat backups earlier this month, raising the level of security currently offered on message backups. The additional layer of privacy and security improves data security. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “WhatsApp is the first global messaging service at this scale to offer end-to-end encryption.”