Google Adds Android Backup Toggles in Play Services 26.25 as Data Starts Counting Toward Storage
Updated
Updated · 9to5Google · Jul 9
Google Adds Android Backup Toggles in Play Services 26.25 as Data Starts Counting Toward Storage
1 articles · Updated · 9to5Google · Jul 9
Summary
Google is rolling out Android backup controls that let users turn SMS, MMS and RCS message backups on or off, alongside separate switches for call history and device settings.
The changes arrive after Google said all Android backup data now counts against Google Account storage, a policy shift it expects to add about 40 MB to average user backups.
Play services 26.25 is starting to deliver the new controls, replacing a system where those categories were always backed up and joining recently added per-app backup toggles.
Google is also testing a Documents backup option in the latest Play services beta, automatically saving downloaded files such as .DOC, .PPT, .XLS and .PDF to a device-named folder in Drive.
That document backup runs on the normal daily device-backup schedule or can be triggered manually, but file changes do not sync across locations and old backups remain in Drive if the feature is turned off.