WhatsApp is testing its own cloud backup service for iPhone, discovered in the latest TestFlight beta. Users will soon be able to store chat backups on WhatsApp’s servers instead of relying exclusively on iCloud, with mandatory end-to-end encryption that’s stronger than Apple’s own default settings.
The discovery comes from WABetaInfo, which reverse-engineered code in WhatsApp’s beta version 26.28.10.16. The feature isn’t yet functional for testers, but the infrastructure is in place. iCloud will remain the default backup destination for now, but users will have a choice.
WhatsApp is offering 2GB of free storage on its servers. The paid tier is 50GB for around $0.99 per month, matching Apple’s entry-level iCloud+ price exactly. A 1TB plan is also being considered but hasn’t been finalized yet.
The backups stored on WhatsApp servers will be protected by end-to-end encryption by default, and users cannot turn it off. While on iCloud, encryption is optional. Apple calls it Advanced Data Protection, and many users don’t enable it, leaving their backups stored with less protection than they could have.
WhatsApp recommends passkeys to secure backups, but regular passwords and 64-digit encryption keys work too. Only you can decrypt your backup; Meta and WhatsApp cannot access the contents, even if they wanted to.
iPhone users run into iCloud’s 5GB free tier quickly. WhatsApp backups can grow enormous if you share media regularly, and once you hit the limit, you either pay Apple or manually delete other data. A dedicated backup provider for WhatsApp alone solves that problem without paying for larger iCloud tiers you might not need.
The other implication is cross-platform portability. Currently, WhatsApp backups are locked to the platform where they were created; you cannot restore an iOS backup on Android or vice versa. If WhatsApp controls the backup infrastructure, it could theoretically let you restore a backup on a different OS. That feature is still in development and not confirmed, but the potential exists.
WhatsApp is also building an alternative to Google Drive backups for Android in parallel. Both are in active development. An official launch announcement could come relatively soon, though WhatsApp hasn’t stated a timeline yet.
