Google Account storage limit will count SMSs, phonebooks, and settings backups

[Hanno Labuschagne]

Google Account storage limit will count SMSs, phonebooks, and settings backups

Google will start counting all backed-up data on Android smartphones and tablets towards users' Google Account cloud storage allocations from September 2026.

The Internet giant announced the change in an email notification sent to Android device users this past week.

 

[Fcon_Vpro]

Finally a storage limit sitting between 200gb and 2tb... will take the 400gb package

 

[Lycanthrope]

Proton for e-mail and cloud storage. Immich for photos and videos. Plex or Jellyfin for your own media. Home Assistant, paired with whichever third-party hardware suits your preferences and budget -- Ubiquiti, Tapo, Hive, or whatever else -- for home automation and security. And there are countless alternative search engines.

So... what does that leave?

YouTube, Maps/Waze, Android, Android Auto and Pixel devices -- that's pretty much all that's left that Google still does particularly well. Even those are hardly beyond criticism; they're simply better than the alternatives.

Unless your company uses Google Workspace or you're already hopelessly embedded in its ecosystem, why deliberately tie yourself up further?

Virtually everything Google touches eventually turns to ****.

You're effectively paying Google rent to keep your digital life inside its ecosystem. And what do you get beyond a larger quota? No zero-knowledge encryption, no escape from tracking, no ad-free experience and no meaningful privacy benefit. You pay the subscription and still remain the product.

At this point, continuing to hand Google more of your digital life when solid alternatives exist comes down to ignorance, incompetence or indifference.

 

[bwana]

I'll manage, somehow.

 

[RonSwanson]

Proton for e-mail and cloud storage. Immich for photos and videos. Plex or Jellyfin for your own media. Home Assistant, paired with whichever third-party hardware suits your preferences and budget -- Ubiquiti, Tapo, Hive, or whatever else -- for home automation and security. And there are countless alternative search engines.

So... what does that leave?

YouTube, Maps/Waze, Android, Android Auto and Pixel devices -- that's pretty much all that's left that Google still does particularly well. Even those are hardly beyond criticism; they're simply better than the alternatives.

Unless your company uses Google Workspace or you're already hopelessly embedded in its ecosystem, why deliberately tie yourself up further?

Virtually everything Google touches eventually turns to ****.

You're effectively paying Google rent to keep your digital life inside its ecosystem. And what do you get beyond a larger quota? No zero-knowledge encryption, no escape from tracking, no ad-free experience and no meaningful privacy benefit. You pay the subscription and still remain the product.

At this point, continuing to hand Google more of your digital life when solid alternatives exist comes down to ignorance, incompetence or indifference.

Lots of sense in this post.

 

[Gordon_R]

LOL, I got a message today stating that my storage usage had gone up by 0.01GB from 5.60 to 5.61GB out of 15GB. Storm in a teacup would be an exaggeration...

 

[FiestaST]