WhatsApp Restricted Chat locks a conversation to your primary phone
WhatsApp is developing Restricted Chat, a per-chat setting blocking conversation sync to linked devices, defeating third-party clients and AI agents.
Restricted Chat, spotted in Android beta version 2.26.36.5 but not yet enabled, keeps a chosen conversation exclusively on the primary phone, out of reach of WhatsApp Web and linked secondary devices. It extends Advanced Chat Privacy controls: media is not auto-saved to gallery, export is blocked, and messages cannot be handed to Meta AI, with system messages notifying participants of changes. WhatsApp has not announced a release date.
- Feature found in Android beta 2.26.36.5; not yet enabled for testers.
- Chats stay on the primary phone, invisible to WhatsApp Web and linked devices.
- Extends Advanced Chat Privacy: blocks export, gallery saves, and Meta AI access.
From the original article
1 min read at helpnetsecurity.com
WhatsApp is building a per-chat setting that keeps a conversation on a single phone. The setting, called Restricted Chat, sits in the Android beta distributed through Google Play as version 2. 26.
By Sinisa Markovic · helpnetsecurity.com
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