Google makes big change on Android smartphones
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.
“We are getting in touch to notify you of an upcoming update to our storage policies, along with new controls designed to give you more control over your Android backups,” it said.
“The policy update: Effective in 45 days, all data included in your Android device backups will begin counting towards your Google Account storage limit.”
Google explained that photos and videos in Google Photos and MMS data already count towards Google Account storage.
The change will see all other backed-up data, such as SMSs, call history, device settings and app settings, also count towards Google Account storage.
Google said the change may increase the amount of data consumed on users’ accounts. If a user’s storage limit is exceeded, automatic backups will pause.
“To make room, you can clean up your Google storage, get more storage or disable Android backup,” Google said.
Free Google Account users get 15GB of storage for backups, which is shared by all Google apps, including Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive.
To increase Google Account storage, users must subscribe to a Google One plan, which starts at R14.99 for 30GB Lite.
The email also included a breakdown of how the policy change would affect the user’s Google backup storage.
“Your estimated increase in Android device backup will be 0.11 GB after this change,” Google advised one user. “You’ve used 578.69 GB of your 2,048 GB storage.”
To help users prevent exceeding their storage allocation, Google is also introducing granular app backup toggles in Android backup settings.
“If you are on Android 9 or higher, you can now select exactly which data types and individual apps you want to back up, ensuring that you only use storage for what matters most to you,” Google said.
Users can see how much storage they have available for device backups in the Google One storage manager.
It should also be noted that WhatsApp chat and media backups have also counted toward the Google Drive storage limit since early 2024.
Meta Platforms is currently working on its own cloud storage for WhatsApp backups, including a 2GB free plan and paid options with storage starting at 50GB.
Google One plans
| Google One Plan | Google Account Storage | Maximum number of users sharing | AI benefits | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | 30GB | 1 | None | R14.99 |
| Basic | 100GB | 5 | None | R34.99 |
| Standard | 200GB | 5 | None | R52.99 |
| AI Plus (400GB) | 400GB | 5 | – 2× higher usage limits on the Gemini app and access to Flash Thinking Model – Gemini in Gmail – Gemini Notebook with more access – Google Flow with expanded access to Google’s creative models | R104.99 |
| AI Plus (2TB) | 2,000GB | 5 | – 2× higher usage limits on the Gemini app and access to Flash Thinking Model – Gemini in Gmail – Gemini Notebook with more access – Google Flow with expanded access to Google’s creative models – Additional Google Meet and Calendar features | R184.99 |
| AI Pro (5TB) | 5,000GB | 5 | – 4× higher usage limits on the Gemini app and access to the Pro model and Deep Research – Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Vids, and more – Gemini Notebook with expanded access – Google Flow with expanded access to Google’s creative models – Additional Google Meet and Calendar features – YouTube Premium Lite Individual | R429.99 |
| AI Pro (10TB) | 10,000GB | 5 | – 4× higher usage limits on the Gemini app and access to the Pro model and Deep Research – Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Vids, and more – Gemini Notebook with expanded access – Google Flow with expanded access to Google’s creative models – Additional Google Meet and Calendar features – YouTube Premium Lite Individual | R929.99 |
| AI Ultra (20TB) | 20,000GB | 5 | – 5× higher usage limits on the Gemini app and access to advanced features like Deep Think – Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Vids, and more – Gemini Notebook with higher access – Google Flow with expanded access to Google’s creative models – Additional Google Meet and Calendar features – YouTube Premium Lite Individual | R1,859.99 |
| AI Ultra (30TB) | 30,000GB | 5 | – 20× higher usage limits on the Gemini app and access to advanced features like Deep Think – Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Vids, and more – Gemini Notebook with higher access – Google Flow with expanded access to Google’s creative models – Additional Google Meet and Calendar features – YouTube Premium Lite Individual | R4,299.99 |
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