Backing up your WhatsApp chats via Google Drive or iCloud isn’t new. It’s been standard for the Meta-owned messaging app for the better part of a decade. But now, WhatsApp is looking to lessen its reliance on third-party backup solutions by simply building its own. It’s an area that could prove lucrative for Meta.
Alarm bells began sounding in our heads the minute WABetaInfo reported the change. First, WhatsApp wants to offer users 2GB of “free” cloud storage. It immediately begs the question of why anyone would opt for WhatsApp’s storage when Google and Apple offer users up to 15GB and 5GB of free cloud storage from the word go?
Get your head in the cloud
The only logical explanation is that Meta wants to eventually charge you for the privilege of using its custom cloud storage, where backups are end-to-end encrypted by default. It would tie in so well with the messenger’s new WhatsApp Plus subscription that is currently doing the rounds (though not in South Africa at present).
At the moment, WhatsApp Plus is a bit of a joke. We don’t doubt that it’ll only increase in value; however, when it inevitably offers customers a paid-for method of ditching ads. Yeah, those are coming. But maybe before that, Meta could look to strengthen its proposition by chucking in some extra storage for your monthly fee. We’ll see.
Of course, we won’t know Meta’s exact plans until it’s ready to announce them. It’s still unclear whether a WhatsApp Plus subscription will be required to access that 2GB “free” storage or if it’ll be dished out to everyone. Either way, WABetaInfo reckons WhatsApp is gearing up to charge users for an additional 50GB of storage per month.
For about $1/m, which equates to roughly R17/m. That’s… not bad, if you consider Google’s pricing sits at R15/m for 30GB. The only difference is that while Google allows you to store nearly everything, WhatsApp’s offering is limited to… WhatsApp. That’s fine — for some, an extra R20/m to safely hang onto their chats isn’t a bad deal.
We should also mention that WhatsApp won’t force its users to migrate their chat backups (at least according to the image above). It’ll still let folks use Google Drive or iCloud as their primary cloud storage solution, as long as they’re willing to cough up the monthly bill once they hit their cap.
