GoKawiilEdgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR Google is rolling out a new Play services update, featuring a new WhatsApp backup management option in device settings.
An updated Google Wallet transaction history experience is also mentioned in the changelog.
The update isn’t widely available just yet, but it could roll out to eligible devices in the coming days.
WhatsApp’s data backup process has been somewhat dated for a while. Now, Google is introducing an alternative way to manage WhatsApp backups.
While Play system updates typically don’t contain too many user-facing changes, this new version 26.23 update is evidently different. As Google’s update changelog reveals, users can now manage WhatsApp chat backups directly from device settings (via 9to5Google).
Right now, the backup option is hidden deep within WhatsApp’s settings. But by incorporating this page directly within device settings, Google is making it easier to view or modify the backup parameters.
In addition to letting you manage WhatsApp backups from device settings, the update changelog also mentions an “improved experience” while viewing or updating the Google Contacts sync setting.
For what it’s worth, I’m not seeing this specific version of Play services on my Pixel smartphone just yet. This isn’t uncharacteristic for a Google update, though we hope that changes sooner rather than later. Due to these factors, it’s unclear what the WhatsApp backup management page within device settings will look like.
We expect to find most (if not all) options from WhatsApp’s default backup settings page, including the ability to choose which account to back up to, the backup frequency, which data to back up, cellular and Wi-Fi preferences, among other options.
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