Google has today announced that it is temporarily disabling image backups for media shared via messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook. The change is being made in an effort to conserve internet resources and save bandwidth as people are sharing more media than ever while they are stuck at home during the ongoing pandemic.
“Due to COVID-19, people are sharing more photos and videos. To save internet resources, backup & sync has been turned off for device folders created by messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messages, and Kik,” the message in the Google Photos community forum said. However, the image backups feature can still be turned on by users.
As for the apps themselves, an APK teardown of the Google Photos app’s latest version (via XDA-Developers) suggests that backups have been disabled for WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Helo, Instagram, LINE, Messages, and Viber. A notification will inform users that image backups have been disabled in Google Photos, so that they can take the necessary action.