WhatsApp is used by around 2 billion users worldwide. While the messaging platform is gaining new features on a regular basis, there are still a few important options that aren't available. For instance, the option to import or export a local backup is missing. Thankfully, that might change in the near future. According to WABetaInfo, the latest WhatsApp beta update comes with an import option that lets you set up WhatsApp on your Android phone using a local backup.
This feature was spotted by WABetaInfo in the latest version of WhatsApp (2.22.13.11) on Android. Apparently, the feature is still under development, so the import tool does not work. On Android, as of now, the only option that WhatsApp lets you back up your chat history to Google Drive, but that's it. You cannot export the data to your phone locally. The new WhatsApp beta version, though, shows signs of this new feature, giving the option to store backups locally.
Also, when you set up WhatsApp on a new Android device, the only option that you get now is to import your chat history backup from Google Drive. This is very limited since if you haven't backed up your chats to Google Drive, you won't be able to move them to another device. Moreover, the limited option also makes it difficult to import your chat history if you lose access to the account with the chat backup or the Wi-Fi speed is slow.
Right now, your WhatsApp chat backups don't count against your Google account storage. So, there might be a change in the future, and Google could start counting once WhatsApp pushes the feature to store chat backups locally. This would also be very convenient for users who don't want to store their chats on their Google account because they are more vulnerable than those on a device locally.
