Via tomsguide.com
OpenAI's latest Android beta update gives users granular control over memory and chat history on a per-conversation basis
OpenAI is rolling out what it calls the “Sunspot refresh” for ChatGPT’s Android beta app, bringing two features that sound modest but change how users interact with the chatbot in meaningful ways: a per-chat memory toggle and the option to save individual conversations to history.
What the Sunspot refresh actually changes #
The update introduces two core controls. First, the per-chat memory toggle lets users flip memory on or off for any individual conversation. Second, the save-to-history option gives users the choice of whether a specific conversation gets stored in their chat history at all.
The long road to granular memory #
OpenAI first announced memory and user-level controls for ChatGPT on February 13, 2024. That initial version was relatively blunt: memory was either on or off for your entire account.
By April 2025, OpenAI launched a major upgrade that let certain users reference their chat history, giving the AI a broader sense of context across conversations.
By 2026, ChatGPT’s memory system had grown into a multi-layered structure featuring saved memories, reference chat history, and temporary chats.
Mid-2026 saw a wave of requests from users asking for exactly the kind of per-conversation memory controls that this update delivers.
The August 14, 2026 release pushed things further with project-only memory capabilities, meaning the AI could be configured to remember information within specific projects without bleeding that context into unrelated conversations. The Sunspot refresh builds on that foundation, extending similar granularity to individual chats.
Why per-chat controls matter more than they sound #
Privacy laws in the EU, and increasingly in other jurisdictions, have put pressure on AI companies to give users meaningful control over their data. Per-conversation controls represent the kind of granularity that regulators have been pushing for.
The Sunspot refresh is currently limited to the Android beta channel.
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