Google will make Android backups more flexible: what that changes

Backing up smartphone data is now part of the routine that users are accustomed to. Indispensable, this system allows you to find essential elements such as SMS and MMS exchanged, application data, device settings, call history and even contacts. Data that some might consider secondary.

These users can rejoice since the latest beta version v26.22.30 of Google Play services suggests a customization of this Android backup.

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The new Data Backup interface would change almost nothing, with one exception. Code analysis conducted by Android Authority reveals the presence of a button to activate or deactivate for each type of data.

Disabling certain categories would allow users to save storage space on their Google account. Deactivating a category will result in a confirmation request from the user. If the latter is confirmed, the data will no longer be saved and those associated in the cloud will also be deleted. A deactivation to be carried out with full knowledge of the facts, therefore.

This track is not an isolated novelty. At the end of 2025, Android Authority had already spotted, in another version of Google Play services, work aimed at enabling or disabling application-by-application backup. This option has still not been deployed, but it confirms that Google has been seeking for several months to give users finer control over what goes to the cloud.

For the moment, this feature is only an element spotted in the code of a beta version of Google Play Services. Google has not made it official and there is no guarantee that it will one day be deployed to the general public.

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