WhatsApp has started testing a stricter version of one of its privacy controls. Restricted Chat, an upgraded and renamed version of Advanced Chat Privacy, reached some testers in WhatsApp’s beta program on both Android and iOS in early October 2026. The headline addition is aimed at a modern problem: unofficial clients and AI agents that read your messages through linked devices.
Restricted Chat was first spotted in September 2026, when WABetaInfo found it in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.36.4. The tracker reported the Android rollout to some beta testers on October 2, 2026, with beta 2.26.39.11 from the Google Play Store. The iPhone version followed on October 3, 2026, in WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.39.10.20, distributed through TestFlight. In both cases only a limited number of testers get it at first, and WhatsApp has not said when it will reach the stable app.
What changes in a restricted conversation
The feature is optional and off by default. You switch it on for an individual conversation from the chat info screen, and WhatsApp then posts a system message in the chat so everyone knows the rules have changed. Four restrictions apply to all participants:
- Media from the chat is not saved to the device automatically.
- The chat cannot be exported.
- Meta AI features cannot be used in the conversation.
- The chat is not available on linked devices, so messages can only be sent and received on the primary device.
The first three are carried over from Advanced Chat Privacy, which WhatsApp introduced on April 23, 2025, as a way to stop others from exporting chats, auto-downloading media and using messages for AI features. The fourth is new, and it is the one that matters most. According to WhatsApp, cutting off linked devices “helps to prevent people in the chat from using unofficial clients or AI agents to access it.” Such tools usually connect to an account as a linked device, so blocking that route for a specific chat means nobody in it can pipe the messages into a third-party bot, even if they have one hooked up to their account.
Why the rename
According to WABetaInfo, the old name confused some users into thinking their chats were not protected unless Advanced Chat Privacy was on. WhatsApp now addresses that directly on the settings screen: messages and calls are protected with end-to-end encryption whether or not Restricted Chat is enabled. The feature is an extra layer of control over what other people can do with a conversation, not a requirement for secure messaging.
There are limits in this early build. WABetaInfo notes that, for now, Restricted Chat appears to work only in individual conversations, while the original Advanced Chat Privacy was also available in groups. Anyone who wants to try it must join WhatsApp’s beta program on Android or TestFlight on iOS, and even then the toggle may not appear yet, because the rollout is gradual.
