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Forwarding WhatsApp Messages

Beta feature. WhatsApp forwarding is best-effort and has significant limitations (see below). If WhatsApp is open and in the foreground, messages received during that time will not be forwarded.

What Works

  • Forwarding direct WhatsApp messages
  • Forwarding group WhatsApp messages
  • Replying to direct messages (replies are sent as SMS)
  • Captions on images and videos

What Doesn't Work

  • WhatsApp media attachments (pictures, videos)
  • Outgoing messages
  • Images or videos without captions
  • Native WhatsApp replies (would require public API access)

Setup

  1. In WhatsApp, go to Settings › Notifications and enable High priority notifications.
  2. Choose which message types you want to forward.
  3. Grant Notification Access to PhoneLeash when prompted.
  4. Return to PhoneLeash and finish setup.

Why the Limitations?

PhoneLeash forwards WhatsApp messages by reading the notification popups WhatsApp posts to Android. When WhatsApp is the foreground app, it doesn't post notifications — so PhoneLeash never sees those messages. Media attachments and outgoing messages don't generate readable notifications either.