WhatsApp is developing an improved version of its Advanced Chat Privacy feature, known as Restricted Chat, which restricts a conversation to the user’s main mobile device.
Once activated, a restricted chat can be accessed only on the primary phone and will not be synced to other linked devices such as WhatsApp Web or to other mobile phones.
Although references to the feature at the moment appear only in the Android version, it is expected to be made available on the other versions as well. The feature is optional and allows users to decide which chats to restrict.
Restricted Chat is intended to enhance Advanced Chat Privacy rather than serve to replace it.
How WhatsApp Restricted Chat Keeps Conversations on One Device
The Restricted Chat feature is such that a conversation is restricted to the user’s main mobile device; if the option is turned on, then the user may access the restricted conversation only from their primary phone.
Consequently, WhatsApp will not sync restricted chats to other devices to which the account is linked, meaning that these chats will not show up on WhatsApp Web or on other mobile devices.
Even if a user connects their account to a second device, they will not be able to access a restricted chat since it will still only be available on the main phone. The feature is optional, so users choose which chats to restrict.
How Restricted Chat Expands Privacy and When It May Launch
Restricted Chat is not meant to serve as a replacement for Advanced Chat Privacy, but rather as an additional set of tools and options that can be turned on when required.
When it was launched, Meta introduced Advanced Chat Privacy in order to place further restrictions on the actions that chat participants can take with messages, describing it at that time as an initial version that would afterward be developed. The Restricted Chat upgrade is in keeping with that plan.
References to Restricted Chat can currently be seen only in the beta version of the Android app, and the feature is not yet operational. It is unclear when Meta will make the feature available to users, even though the development of WhatsApp generally proceeds at a fast pace.
Like with any feature still in development, it may change before a full launch, and Meta has not officially announced it.
