"Please delete conversations from unnecessary chat rooms and try again."
Office worker A, in their 30s, recently ran into trouble after using the KakaoTalk backup feature while replacing a mobile phone at a dealership. A said, "I deleted photos and apps to free up space and started the backup, but when progress reached about 90%, a message popped up saying 'Insufficient storage space,'" and added, "Even after deleting more photos and trying the backup again, it only told me to start over from the beginning, and it didn't tell me how much more to delete, so in the end I had to give up the free backup and had no choice but to pay for a Talk Cloud subscription."
There have been claims that Kakao is steering KakaoTalk users toward paying for the subscription service Talk Cloud during the "chat backup" process. Kakao also raised Talk Cloud subscription fees in Aug.
According to data submitted by Kakao to the office of Kim Jang-kyom of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee, on the 22nd, Kakao said it cannot disclose in advance the storage needed during the KakaoTalk chat backup process.
KakaoTalk provides a "chat backup" feature that transfers conversation history from a previous smartphone. For text, users can perform a temporary backup and restore within two weeks by reinstalling the app without paying for a subscription. The problem is that in many cases, a storage shortage alert appears mid-backup and the process stops.
Among KakaoTalk users, there have been requests to "disclose the storage required for chat backups," but Kakao has refused, citing internal rules. Recently, users have complained that the temporary storage capacity for free backups has even been reduced.
In response to a query from Kim's office, Kakao said, "The policy on free temporary chat backup capacity is operated flexibly in consideration of KakaoTalk's operational efficiency," maintaining that it cannot disclose the specific capacity size.
Because Kakao does not disclose the storage required for backups, backups often stop due to insufficient space. In such cases, people often have to start over from the beginning, and not a few end up reluctantly subscribing to the paid service Talk Cloud.
Kim said, "If the app alerts users about insufficient storage without specifying how much is lacking, users cannot calculate how much excess data they have and are forced to make a paid purchase," urging, "KakaoTalk should improve the service so that even free users are informed of the exact shortfall when a storage shortage alert appears during backup."
Kakao also raised Talk Cloud expenses starting in Aug. Previously, users paid 1,900 won per month for 100GB, but since Aug. they must pay 2,100 won for 30GB.
In response to the issue raised by Kim's office, Kakao said it would reduce user inconvenience by moving up the timing of the "backup unavailable" alert due to insufficient storage. Previously, the alert was issued after the chat backup had progressed substantially, so retries took considerable time, but going forward, the app will alert users from the start of the backup if storage is lacking. However, because the company maintains that it cannot disclose the capacity required during the chat backup process, user inconvenience appears likely to continue.