- By Prateek Levi
- Sun, 25 Jan 2026 02:57 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
WhatsApp seems to be working on improving parental controls and secondary accounts. It has been known that the company was working on restricted accounts for minors, which would have limited features, apparatus to restrict contact with strangers, and some oversight for parents while keeping privacy and security intact with end-to-end encryption. It has been found out through recent WhatsApp beta builds, which include the 2.26.3.6 version on the Google Play Store, how the system could work.
Parents Will Be Able To Set A PIN
This supposed feature will give parents the ability to create and manage a secondary WhatsApp account for children who either need restricted access pertaining to security reasons or are not of minimum age as per WhatsApp's criteria, according to feature tracker WABetainfo, which shared it via a post. These accounts, it's being claimed, will restrict communication to saved contacts only.
The feature, although, is not yet available to beta testers and remains unavailable, according to the post.
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During setup, parents will reportedly have to link their child’s account to their own by scanning a QR code and setting up a six-digit primary PIN. This PIN will be required to approve sensitive changes and stop any unauthorised tweaks on the secondary account.
A screenshot shared by a feature tracker also hints at stricter limitations. Secondary accounts may not get access to the Updates tab at all, including channels and other broadcast-style content, something that wasn’t mentioned earlier.
On top of that, WhatsApp’s Chat Lock feature is expected to be disabled. This means conversations can’t be hidden from device-level checks, a move aimed at limiting exposure to unknown content and reducing the chances of hidden activity.
Reportedly parents will have oversight over a few actions as well, like if a new contact gets added, but it will be restricted till there, and they won't be able to see the contents of the messages or call details. End-to-end encryption would remain untethered, according to WABetaInfo.
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These secondary accounts will remain linked to the parent's account till the time a manual removal is prompted or till the time the child reaches what WhatsApp considers the minimum required age on its platform according to its Terms and Services. At that point that account will be able to port itself to a new regular account, with all WhatsApp features, subject to the latest terms, as per the new post.