WhatsApp is developing a native cloud backup service that would let users store their chat histories directly on WhatsApp’s servers, rather than relying on Google Drive or iCloud.
The feature was spotted by WABetaInfo, a tracker that monitors unreleased WhatsApp functionality.
Right now, Android users are tied to Google Drive and iPhone users to iCloud for their WhatsApp backups. That’s a problem for anyone who’s hit their storage limit.
WhatsApp backups, especially with lots of photos and videos, can get large fast, and that eats into the same storage budget as emails, phone backups, and everything else.
WhatsApp’s solution is to offer its own storage as an alternative, giving users the choice to switch or stick with what they already use.
The free tier would come with 2GB of storage. A paid plan offering 50GB is reportedly being considered at around $0.99 (~KES 130), though all of that is still preliminary and could change.
It’s also not yet clear whether the free tier will be available to everyone or only to WhatsApp Plus subscribers.
On the security side, any backup stored on WhatsApp’s cloud will be end-to-end encrypted by default, meaning WhatsApp itself won’t be able to access it.
Users would have three ways to protect their backup: a passkey tied to biometrics like a fingerprint or face scan, a regular password, or a 64-digit encryption key for those who want full manual control.
The feature is still in development and hasn’t been confirmed by WhatsApp officially. It’ll go through internal testing before any beta rollout.
