What you need to know
- WhatsApp is getting an advanced storage management feature.
- It'll let you see what sort of files are clogging up your phone, and it'll let you delete them in seconds.
- The update was being tested on Android a few months ago, but it's coming out to Stable users this week.
If you're anything like the average person, your WhatsApp chats aren't simply text exchanges with little else. They're filled with gifs, memes, videos, and so on. All of that follows you as you switch phones and restore backups, but not all of that is still useful years later. WhatsApp is rolling out a new storage management tool that will help you keep track of all those files that have built up.
WhatsApp will group files into "Forwarded many times", offer you a look at files under 5MB, and even show you which chats are taking up the most space. You'll be able to tap in, select all the media you want gone, and reclaim your space with ease.
It looks a lot like the Google Files app and is just as granular in letting you choose which files you'd prefer to be deleted.
While the feature may have been in testing over the last couple of months, it's rolling out this week to users worldwide.
A messaging app that's essentially SMS for most of the world, WhatsApp's newest feature makes it easier to install on resource-strapped devices.
