Overview
- The policy change began on July 7 and applies immediately to new Android backups while Google says it will update existing accounts over the coming months.
- Backups will now include and count SMS messages (the message text), call history, and device settings in addition to photos and MMS media.
- Google expects the change to increase backup size by about 40 megabytes on average, a figure it shared to stress the typical impact should be small.
- New per-data on/off toggles for SMS & MMS, Call history, and Device settings are rolling out over the next few weeks and can be found in device backup settings such as Pixel’s Settings > Accounts and backup > Google Backup > Other device data.
- Because Google Account storage is a single pool shared with Gmail, Drive and Google Photos, users near their limits can disable specific backup types, delete old backups or upgrade to Google One to avoid running out of space.