Tech giant Google said that it will no longer backup media from chat apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter to Google Photos.
According to Mashable, Google tested this change earlier this month and has now rolled it out. The company is only changing default settings in Google Photos to ensure that it does not backup media content from messaging apps.
Earlier Google Photos would backup all photos and videos saved on your smartphone by default. It included the pictures shot from your device’s camera as well as ones saved from the internet. The user had to manually turn off the automatic save mode. However, the new move is a temporary one by Google. In its announcement, it notes that since people are sharing more photos and videos, it is changing the default Google Photos settings “to save internet sources.”
In Google Photos app the notification about this change will also pop up. The full list of apps was not announced by Google but the confirmed apps include WhatsApp, Messenger, Kik, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LINE.
An important thing is, users, existing chat media that is already backed up to Google Photos will remain unaffected. You can also manually change the setting if you wish to backup media files in Google Photos. This will be exactly opposite to what it was earlier.