Why WhatsApp Is Locking Certain Chats to Just One Device

WhatsApp has begun rolling out a privacy feature called Restricted Chat to beta testers on Android and iOS, locking individual conversations strictly to a user's primary mobile phone.

First spotted during development by WABetaInfo under the name Advanced Chat Privacy, the updated feature is now appearing for testers on Android beta version 2.26.39.11 and iOS TestFlight beta build 26.39.10.20.

How Restricted Chat Works

Enabling Restricted Chat on a conversation enforces four specific limitations:

• Linked devices are blocked: Messages can only be sent and received on the primary mobile phone. Linked devices such as WhatsApp Web, desktop applications, and secondary phones cannot access the thread.
• Media auto-save is disabled: Received media will not automatically save to the device's photo gallery.
• Chat exports are blocked: Users cannot export the conversation.
• Meta AI is disabled: Meta AI features cannot be used within the conversation.

End-to-end encryption remains active across all messages and calls whether Restricted Chat is enabled or not. When toggled on, WhatsApp inserts an automated in-chat system banner informing all participants that messages can only be sent and received on the primary device.

Closing Linked Device Access Points

While linked devices offer convenience, secondary sessions can expose conversations to bystanders or unauthorized software. By isolating a specific thread exclusively to the primary phone, Restricted Chat closes the door that third-party tools and external scrapers could otherwise exploit via companion sessions to read messages.

Availability

The feature is off by default and must be toggled on manually per conversation through the chat info screen. In the current beta phase, the setting applies only to individual one-on-one chats.

WhatsApp has not announced a public release date for stable versions of the app on Android and iOS, and it remains uncertain whether the feature will expand to group chats.