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ZDNET's key takeaways:
- Android settings now count toward Google's 15GB of free storage.
- The actual storage increase per user is very small at ~40MB.
- Users can easily save space by disabling unneeded app backups.
Google allocates 15GB of free cloud storage to every Google account, shared across the company's cloud-based services, including Gmail, Drive, Sheets, Docs, Slides, and more recently Gemini. You'll also notice some third parties lay claim to their share of this storage allocation, such as WhatsApp.
Also: 13 Google Photos settings I always change on every new device - and why
Following a recent announcement, the search giant has altered its support documentation and is sending emails to all its customers informing them of new usage policies under which Android device settings will also count against the 15 GB. You can buy more storage with a Google One subscription plan, optimize cloud backups for efficiency, or use offline backups on external devices.
Here's what's changing and how you can make the most of it.
Google's new rules hike utilization marginally
On your Android device, if you visit Settings > Accounts and backup > Google Backup > Other device data, you'll see toggles for individual data elements that are backed up to this shared cloud storage.
Also: I ditched Google Drive for my own self-hosted storage - and I wish I'd done it sooner
Until this change came along, the toggles for your MMS data and media earmarked for backup in the Google Photos app were the only ones here. Other device settings didn't hog this storage pool.
The updated policies rolling out now include two new data categories for backups -- SMS, call history, and device settings under the Device data header, and your configuration for all installed apps under App data.
Each of these has a toggle, but they were all switched on by default for me. This step should make transferring your apps and settings over to new or secondary devices way easier, akin to how passkeys and biometrics have simplified authentication.
The current Android device setup flow already moves your apps, contacts, and essentials over. With the changed policies, you can hope that your app configuration settings are seamlessly restored on a new device.
Importantly, third-party app data like WhatsApp cloud backups, which didn't count toward Google One storage before early 2024, now also fight for their piece of the 15GB free-tier pie.
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If you're backing up media from the Photos app, not clearing out emails with multiple attachments, or backing up most of the good morning forwards from chat apps, you'll burn through the 15GB allocation in no time. On the bright side, you'll see the app data toggles sorted in descending order of space used, and my biggest culprit was VLC, demanding a comical 6.1MB.
That's less than one average 12 MP photo you snapped for the 'gram, and all other apps on my phone want less than that. In fact, in the email Google sent, my total increase in storage utilization is a lowly 0.1GB.
Speaking to 9to5Google, the company estimated a 40 MB increase in cloud storage per user. That's not much, but estimates could be way off, and everyone uses their allocated space differently. If you receive a similar email, look for the text in bold mentioning how much storage you have, the additional usage from this change, and your remaining free space.
Optimizing storage takes effort, but could save you money
If you aren't already a Google One subscriber or this additional utilization is stirring up trouble for you, slashing your cloud storage utilization significantly is fairly straightforward. For starters, you can turn off all these new toggles if you don't plan to get a new device soon. This backup is most useful when you lose your phone or migrate to a new one.
I'd also suggest getting selective with the app data you're backing up because you might not carry it all over to the next phone.
Disabling Google Photos backup to the cloud and referring offline backups to a NAS or self-hosted service cuts down cloud usage drastically, as does disabling media backups in WhatsApp. The toggle for the former is available on the aforementioned Photos app settings page under Backup, while WhatsApp tucks it under Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Include Videos.
You might lose cool features like Memories and some AI-powered editing features in Photos, but I use it only for shared albums with friends. If you must use cloud backups, consider lower-resolution backups using the controls available in the Photos app under Settings > Backup > Photos and videos quality > Storage saver. Express saves even more storage.
Also: I'm no longer using Google Photos as just a cloud storage - 5 tools that elevate the app
Additionally, I'd suggest clearing out email trash frequently and filtering emails to delete those with attachments first.
Lastly, if you're ever in a situation where you cannot spare cloud storage to migrate device settings, you can rely on third-party apps to perform on-device backups or store the data safely on an external device. At most, you'll need to set up ADB on the phone. Notably, some Android OEMs, like OnePlus, have options for on-device backups baked into OxygenOS, too.
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