Summary
- WhatsApp is working on a new option to easily clear out old data to free up space on your device.
- A new feature is coming soon for managing downloads.
- It should allow bulk deletion of voice messages and more with one tap.
Some of our favorite instant messaging apps on Android have accrued billions of active users, with each of them sending and receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of messages every day. With communication at scale and features like HD image sharing becoming the norm, industry titans like WhatsApp are forced to reconsider how app data is managed. A new sighting along these lines suggests Meta’s WhatsApp will soon make redundant app data deletion easier to keep your phone clutter-free.
Data accumulation and management is a massive problem if not managed properly at WhatsApp’s scale. The app’s backups already count against your Google Drive storage, marking a shift from the original policy of keeping backups independent of your storage. However, cloud backups still don’t solve the perennial problem of all those good morning images and memes accumulating offline on your device. That might soon change because popular tipster AssembleDebug on X (formerly Twitter) recently posted screenshots suggesting Meta is cognizant of the problem and already devising a solution.
Clear old and unrelated WhatsApp data easily
WhatsApp is already quite helpful, providing a per-chat breakdown of space hogged by the media, documents, and other data you share there. On the Android app, this list is available under Settings → Storage and data → Manage storage. However, clearing out redundant files can be tedious and AssembleDebug reports the chat app will soon add a setting called Manage downloads under the Tools to save space section, where it already suggests enabling disappearing messages.
This menu should have a one-tap deletion option for downloads such as voice message transcripts, making it easy to bulk-delete different download types. While this might not be a big deal on flagship Android devices with tons of storage, app data can bog down budget hardware surprisingly quickly. As always, timelines for this feature release are shrouded in mystery, but we just hope to see it debut on Android soon.
