Google will no longer be backing up data from social media applications automatically. While the decision appears to be temporary, the company mentions that this new change will affect applications such as WhatsApp, Messages, Twitter, Snapchat, and Kik.
Google mentions that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, users are sharing more photos and videos than usual. Google says that the new change is an attempt to save internet resources. However, Google does mention that the backup and sync settings can be turned on manually by users at any time. So, users will not need to worry about the fact that the backup and sync feature is completely gone. Users who prefer to keep the backup and sync feature turned off can actually select particular images or videos to be backed up.
Google also states that the data that has already been backed up will remain unaffected and users will be able to access them via the Google Photos application. The company has also given step-by-step instructions on how to manually turn on the back and sync, and to manually back up selective images or videos. The automatic backup mode of Google Photos is one of the best features in the Android and iOS platforms. Google Photos will be able to back up the images in a compressed state while retaining most of the image quality.
