Google has just changed its storage policy for Android users. From July 7th, all data in Android backups will be included in the capacity limit of the Google account.
Previously, Google only counted storage capacity for photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos and photo and video files in MMS message data. Other backup data on Android devices is not counted in the limit.
This change will be applied immediately to new Android users, while current users will be gradually deployed in the next few months.
Google said the Android backup feature helps save data on the phone to Google accounts for users to easily restore or set up new devices. According to the company, the policy change only increases an average of about 40 MB of usage per account.
In addition, Google also added new options to help users proactively control backed up data. In the Backup section on the device, users can choose not to back up device settings, call history, SMS/MMS messages or data of each individual application.
This is the latest move in a series of changes related to Google's storage policy. Previously, in May, the company tested reducing the default free storage capacity for new accounts from 15 GB to 5 GB, if users do not link the phone number to the account.
