So in the past few days WhtasApp has been on an improvement spree, changing things right and left and it seems like almost every other day there are new versions of it available on the play store. While constantly updating the app is a bit of the pain in the neck, its definitely worth it when you stop to consider all the advantages it brings. Along with the bug fixes, these updates are now offering a whole bunch of brand new features that weren’t available earlier and that are making WhatsApp a whole lot more fun as well as even more secure.
We have already had the web client, the spam and block feature and the voice calling feature handed to us among others and now it seems like WhatsApp has paired up with Google Drive and given us the option to back up our data on cloud to make sure our conversations stay with us forever. While WhatsApp already has a backup feature, the feature stores the back up on your device itself — meaning that if you lose your device or somehow destroy it, then poof!! All your conversations are gone. However, this brand new feature makes use of cloud storage to store you data on Google’s servers meaning that you can restore it anytime, anywhere.
The feature is offered in the latest version of the app — namely, the version 2.12.45 — which can be downloaded from ApkMirror considering that the official WhatsApp website right here hasn’t listed it yet.
Once you have the latest version installed on your device, simply head over to Settings>>Chat settings>>Chat Backup and here you can change the frequency of drive backup — considering that it uses up data and whole lot of it if there is a lot of media — from the default option which backs up daily at 04:00 AM. Wi-Fi is recommended during the backup process since the data gets used up surprisingly fast.
One thing we noticed was that although the “Back up chats” was set to only over wi-fi, once the backup initiated it created a local copy on the device which it then procceded to upload to the drive and did not stop when the wi-fi was turned off, using the device’s data pack. While we are not sure if its an anomaly isssue which occured only with this particular device or something that is hardwired into the app, we advice you to make sure you have a stable wi-fi before initiating the backup.
Similarly, no information is available yet about wheather the data uploaded to the drive could also be viewed there or if its accessible only after performing a restore on a smartphone. Well, we will find out and let you know shortly, in the meanwhile let us have your thoughts on this latest development from WhatsApp and if you happen to come across something we have missed, do let us know.
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