WhatsApp is developing a new privacy feature that was recently spotted in its latest Android beta release. This feature, which remains under development, would allow users to stop others from automatically saving media files sent during chats.
Right now, WhatsApp typically lets users automatically download photos, videos, and other media they receive, depending on their personal app settings. With the new update, however, senders would be able to prevent recipients from saving media files by default.
Currently, this control is available only for disappearing messages, which are designed to be temporary and not saved by the recipient. The upcoming change will extend similar control to standard messages, giving senders more influence over how they handle shared content.
The new setting limits auto-saving and prevents chat participants from exporting the full conversation history if turned on, including any media sent during those conversations. However, message forwarding will still be allowed.
Another impact of enabling this setting is that Meta AI features would no longer be available in that specific chat. According to the beta build, any chat where advanced privacy is enabled will not support AI tools such as those that assist with questions, summaries, or recommendations.
Since this feature was only seen in a beta version, it’s not yet available to the general public. There’s no confirmed date for when it will roll out. WhatsApp is likely to gather feedback during testing before deciding on any final version.
When released, this setting will be optional. Users will need to turn it on manually if they want to use it, and existing chats will continue to work as they do now unless changes are made. This update, once finalized, could help users who want more control over their shared media and data privacy when using the app.