WABetaInfo posted about the Android version on 2 October and the iOS one the next day, so Restricted Chat is now out with testers on both. It’s been in development since around the middle of September and it replaces Advanced Chat Privacy, which some testers will still be seeing in its place for a while yet.
The switch sits in the chat info screen and it’s per conversation. Turn it on for one thread and nothing changes anywhere else, and once it is on, WhatsApp drops a line into the conversation so the other person knows about it too.
The Four Things That Stop Working
Photos and videos no longer save themselves into anyone’s gallery. The chat can’t be exported. Meta AI is switched off inside that thread. And the conversation stops showing up on linked devices, which is the one people will notice most.
That last restriction means WhatsApp Web, the desktop app, a tablet, a second phone on the same account, none of them will show the chat at all. WhatsApp’s explanation is that unofficial clients and AI agents get in through the linked-device channel, so cutting that off closes the route. Reasonable enough, although in practice it does mean reading that conversation on your handset and nowhere else, which is a trade some people won’t want.
Encryption isn’t part of any of this. Messages and calls were already end to end encrypted and they stay that way whether the switch is on or off.
Which Versions Have It
Android testers are picking it up on beta 2.26.39.11, after earlier sightings on 2.26.36.4. On iOS it’s in the TestFlight build, version 26.39.10.20.
Running the right version doesn’t mean you’ll have it though. WABetaInfo describes the rollout as partial on both platforms, and plenty of people on those builds are still waiting. It only covers one-to-one chats at the moment as well, with nothing said about groups.
No public release date has been announced and no particular country has been named, so it looks like a global test. Joining the beta is the only way to try it, and even then it’s luck of the draw.
