How to Use WhatsApp Message Summaries on iOS and Android: A Step-by-Step Guide

WhatsApp message summaries were recently introduced on the messaging platform as a way to quickly catch up with long conversations in chats. The feature, which relies on Meta AI, generates a summary of messages that received since you last opened a chat. WhatsApp says that while messages are protected by end-to-end encryption (E2EE), it sends these messages to secure servers where they are processed. The feature is only available in select regions, and WhatsApp says English is the currently supported language.

According to the company, WhatsApp message summaries are disabled by default. Users must opt in to accessing these features, which rely on Meta's new Private Processing technology. WhatsApp message summaries rely on AI and require an internet connection to fetch a condensed version of unread messages in a chat.

How to Enable or Disable Private Processing in WhatsApp

1. Launch WhatsApp on your iPhone or Android smartphone.
2. Navigate to the settings menu and tap Chats > Private Processing. This feature might not be available in all regions.
3. Toggle the Private Processing features option to enable or disable the AI-powered functionality.

How WhatsApp Message Summaries Work

WhatsApp claims that it offers E2EE protection for all messages and media sent and received on the platform. However, in order to process chats for message summaries, WhatsApp sends them to a confidential cloud environment called Private Processing. The company said earlier this year that the technology is designed to handle AI tasks securely, without providing access to anyone, including Meta or WhatsApp.

As a result, your phone will need to be connected to the internet to access the WhatsApp message summaries feature. These summaries are briefly displayed inside a chat after a certain amount of unread messages have been received. WhatsApp also says that the Private Processing features (including message summaries) are turned off by default, and you must opt in to using them.

Meta notes that some of these WhatsApp message summaries that are generated using AI might be inappropriate or inaccurate. This is the same message that the company displays while using its Meta AI assistant in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. If you don't see the Private Processing features option in your WhatsApp settings, you will need to wait until these features are rolled out to your region to access the WhatsApp message summaries feature.