Overview
- Google, which began emailing Android users on Monday, gave existing accounts a 45-day notice that device backups will start counting against Google Account storage.
- The newly counted backup data include SMS messages, call history, device settings, and app settings while photos, videos and MMS already counted toward storage.
- Google is adding granular controls for devices running Android 9 or later so users can toggle backups for individual apps and data types.
- If an account exceeds its storage quota after the change, automatic device backups will pause until the user frees space, disables backups, or upgrades via Google One.
- Reported per-account increases are generally small—examples around 30–40MB—so most paid-plan users should see little effect but users on limited free storage may need to act, and it is unclear whether new accounts face immediate enforcement.