Google’s subscription program for buying additional storage and live support is getting an update that will bring free phone backups for Android and iOS devices.
This new storage feature is free, where you can save up to 15GB. If you need more storage, you must avail of the Google One membership that starts at $1.99/month for 100GB.
Google One backup feature is free
The company added automatic Android phone backups to Google One last year. The upgrade feature is for their “membership” program, which includes Drive storage, family sharing, and a handful of other perks.
It made sense for the company to bake that feature right into Android. However, today, the company announced it’d soon do the same for iPhone users as well. And whether you are an Android or iPhone user, the phone backup feature will be free for you.
This means that people who aren’t paying for Google One’s extra Drive storage will have their base 15GB split between Gmail, Drive, Photos, and now phone backups. Yes, regardless of whether or not you have a Google One subscription, you can store up to 15GB for free, as per Engadget.
Apple iPhone users can manage their phone backups over a new Google One app that’s coming out very soon. If you are an iPhone user, you are allowed to store photos, videos, contacts as well as calendar events in your Google account. This memory capacity is an addition to the backup options that the iPhone has for all those things (albeit with a paltry free 5GB of iCloud storage).
Here’s the catch
If you need more than 15GB of free storage, that’s another story.
If you want to have more than the free storage provided by Google, that comes with your Google account, you should consider upgrading to a Google One membership plan.
Once you upgrade your membership, you will be able to share your plan with up to five family members (or team if you are handling a small business) and enjoy additional benefits such as premium customer support.
The base membership plan includes 100GB of storage for $2 per month, perfect for Drive, Photos, and other files from phone backups. But regardless of whether you pay for Google One or not, it doesn’t hurt to have another option for backing up your phone.
The new Google One app for iOS will also include a storage manager. This feature will make it a lot easier to clean up the multiple data that might be eating up your storage.
The 15GB free storage will be available on Android through the Play Store “in the coming days,” while the iOS app will be “available soon.”
Images used courtesy of Google/YouTube Screenshot