Overview
- The per‑app backup toggle began appearing in late June as part of Google Play Services beta builds (noted in v26.24–26.25) and is visible to some Pixel phones and at least one Nothing Phone while many other devices do not yet see it.
- The option appears in Settings under Google services > Backup > Backup details and shows a list of apps with the three largest by size shown first and a 'More' view to reveal the full list.
- Users can switch backups off for individual apps and the UI warns that doing so will remove that app’s already backed‑up data from the user’s Google account and prevent future backups from that device.
- The control currently covers only app data; other backup categories such as SMS/MMS, call history and device settings remain grouped together and cannot be individually excluded.
- The change gives users a way to free limited Google Cloud storage and limit what is stored in their account, but the rollout is gradual, the feature is in beta, and Google has not yet documented broader availability in Play Services changelogs.