Facebook-owned WhatsApp has reached a rather surprising agreement with Google, allowing its Android service to be supported by Google Drive.
With a global roll-out starting yesterday, the agreement will see WhatsApp for Android users get the option to back up all their chat history, voice messages, photos and videos on Google Drive.
The full roll-out will take a few months so, as you get prompted for app updates, have a gander at what’s included and you’ll quickly learn if now is your time.
The agreement was reached yesterday, introducing the capability to host the data that Google claims is “what’s really important” in our lives in the cloud, although the company’s reasoning is a bit mad.
“Of course you don’t want your memories stuck on your phone. What if something happens?” ponders Scott Johnston, director of product management at Google.
Implying that the cloud is a bastion of security, while tangible, hand-held storage devices are not, doesn’t hold up.
.@mikko "There is no cloud. Cloud is putting your stuff in other people's computers. That's how you should think about it." #IPExpo
— F-Secure UK (@fsecureukteam) October 7, 2015
But either way it’s interesting that Facebook has stood by its plans to keep WhatsApp completely separate from its main operation.
This decision is what clearly made Google Drive the natural back-up option.
“Google Drive was an easy choice. It offers the native Android experience we want for our users and the scale to grow with us,” said Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp.
Main image via Shutterstock
