WhatsApp has introduced a new security feature called “Restricted Chats” that gives users greater control over the privacy of selected conversations.
The feature is part of the messaging platform’s Advanced Chat Privacy tools and prevents restricted chats from being accessed on devices linked to the user’s WhatsApp account.
According to a report, the feature has been introduced in a new beta version of WhatsApp for Android devices.
Restricted Chats is an optional security feature and is disabled by default, meaning users must enable it manually for individual conversations.
How to use Restricted Chats
To enable the feature, users need to open the chat they want to restrict and tap the contact’s name to access the Chat Info screen.
After scrolling down, users will see the “Restricted Chat” option, which can be selected to enable the feature.
The feature currently works only for individual chats and is not available for group conversations.
Once a chat is restricted, the setting applies to both participants in the conversation. WhatsApp will prevent media files from the restricted chat from being automatically saved to the device’s gallery, while neither participant will be able to export the chat.
Meta AI features will also be disabled within restricted conversations.
In addition, the restricted chat cannot be accessed from a linked device other than the user’s primary device.
WhatsApp’s existing Advanced Chat Privacy settings will continue to allow protected conversations to remain accessible on linked devices.
As the Restricted Chats feature is currently available in beta testing, it is unclear when it will be rolled out to all WhatsApp users.
