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| Parents can use a PIN to control who adds their child to WhatsApp groups. The chats themselves remain encrypted. |
WhatsApp is giving parents more ways to guide their teens’ accounts. On September 30, the messaging app announced new parental controls for teens, designed to be set up by a parent and teen together. The controls are aimed at teens aged 13 to 17, and the parent must be at least 18. Both sides have to agree to link their accounts, so a parent cannot quietly switch this on without the teen knowing. Children under 13 already have parent-managed accounts.
What parents can control
Parents get a say over who can see their teen’s profile photo and who can add them to groups. If a teen wants to loosen any of those settings, they need a parent’s approval through a parent-set PIN. According to WhatsApp’s help pages, parents also receive a notification when their teen joins or leaves a group. TechCrunch reports that alerts also arrive when a group reaches 30, 100, or 250 members.
Parents can also decide how their teen uses Channels, whose Status updates they see, and who can see theirs.
A stricter setting for Meta AI
The newest piece is the Meta AI control. Parents can choose between the default 13+ setting and a stricter option called Limited Content. WhatsApp’s announcement does not explain exactly what the stricter option turns off. According to TechCrunch, it “disables private processing-based features like incognito chat and message summaries.” Parents who want to keep Meta AI as limited as possible for their teen should choose Limited Content.
What parents still cannot see
Even with parental controls turned on, a teen’s personal messages and calls stay private. WhatsApp says they remain protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning neither parents nor WhatsApp can read or listen to them. Parents can manage contacts, groups, and visibility settings, but they cannot see message content.
Rollout and other teen limits
WhatsApp has not given a release date for every region. Its help center says the controls “are rolling out gradually and may not yet be available in your region.” Both phones need the latest version of WhatsApp for Android or iPhone.
Meta is already facing limits on teen use elsewhere. In August, a US court capped teen use of Instagram and Facebook.
WhatsApp is also testing Restricted Chat
WhatsApp is testing another setting for single chats. According to WABetaInfo, Advanced Chat Privacy is being renamed Restricted Chat. In a restricted chat, media is not saved to the gallery automatically, and the chat cannot be exported. WABetaInfo adds that “it is not possible to use Meta AI features within the conversation,” and the chat only works on the primary phone. So far, the feature is only in Android beta 2.26.39.11, and there is no date for the regular app.
For parents, the takeaway is simple: WhatsApp’s new controls offer more oversight over contacts, groups, visibility, and Meta AI, but they stop short of exposing private conversations.