Google Messages are currently backed up to your Google account. The reliance on system-wide backups often leads to a clunky experience when transferring messages to a new device. Google will reportedly take care of that by building a backup feature into the messaging app.

When analysing the code strings in the latest version of Google Messages, 9to5Google came across some snippets that hint at a possible native "Backup & restore" feature for Google Messages.

This means that Backup & restore will be build into Google Messages settings instead of being tied to wider system settings. The backup feature will let you save both conversations and media. The backups will be end-to-end encrypted, meaning no one except for you will be able to access them. Devices without a screen lock will not be eligible for end-to-end encrypted backups.

Of course, messages will still be backed up to Google Account, but the new app-specific feature will provide more flexibility compared to how things are handled at the moment. By emphasizing that messages will be saved to your Google Account, Google is in essence associating the feature more closely to Google One, as, over time, data requirements for backups can increase, especially if you send and receive a lot of pictures and videos.

You will be free to disable the feature, but this will permanently delete messages from your Google Account.

Since media backups devour more data than text, Google Messages will give you the option of only syncing media over Wi-Fi.