WhatsApp has introduced a new privacy control called Restricted Chat for Android that keeps selected conversations accessible only on a user’s primary mobile device, blocking them on linked devices such as WhatsApp Web, companion phones, and potentially unofficial clients.
The feature was spotted in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.26.36.5 and is still under development. It is not currently available to beta testers or regular users, and WhatsApp has not announced a public rollout date.
Restricted Chat appears to be an evolution of WhatsApp’s existing Advanced Chat Privacy capability. While Advanced Chat Privacy limits on messages and media, Restricted Chat adds a device-access boundary.
WhatsApp Tests Restricted Chat Feature to Block Linked Devices
Once enabled for a specific chat, Restricted Chat should prevent WhatsApp from synchronizing that conversation to linked endpoints. The chat therefore would not appear in WhatsApp Web sessions, linked secondary phones, or other companion-device interfaces associated with the account.
This approach addresses a significant privacy gap for sensitive communications. Linked-device support makes messaging more convenient across desktops and multiple mobile devices, but each additional endpoint can expand the attack surface.
A compromised browser profile, an unattended desktop session, unauthorized account linking, or a third-party client could expose messages that users intended to keep private.
By restricting selected conversations to the primary device, WhatsApp could reduce the likelihood that a private chat is accessed through a linked-device channel.
The protection is optional, allowing users to apply it only to high-risk conversations rather than changing access behavior for every chat. Restricted Chat will retain the controls already introduced through Advanced Chat Privacy, according to WABetaInfo.
Those safeguards include preventing participants from exporting the conversation, disabling automatic saving of shared media to a device gallery, and blocking Meta AI from using messages in protected chats.
WhatsApp also displays an in-chat system notice when a participant changes the privacy setting, making the change visible to everyone in the conversation.
Advanced Chat Privacy aims to constrain data handling inside the chat experience, while Restricted Chat would add restrictions on where the conversation can be accessed.
Together, the controls could limit both intentional extraction such as exporting messages and passive exposure through synced devices.
The linked-device limitation is particularly relevant as unofficial WhatsApp clients and AI-enabled tools increasingly process messages through browser sessions or connected devices.
Such tools may gain access after users link an account to a modified web client, creating a pathway for conversation data to be copied, analyzed, or supplied to external AI agents.
Restricted Chat would not eliminate risks from screenshots, physical access to an unlocked phone, compromised endpoints, or malicious participants. However, it could remove linked devices as an access route for conversations marked as sensitive.
WhatsApp has positioned Advanced Chat Privacy as an initial privacy layer that could expand with additional capabilities. Restricted Chat indicates that the company is moving toward more granular controls over message access, synchronization, and data exposure as private messaging threats evolve.
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