WhatsApp users will now be able to put specific chats behind a lock, making them only accessible by password or biometrics.
In a blog post on Tuesday, the Meta-owned company said the feature was developed for ‘people who share their phones from time to time with a family member’.
“Locking a chat takes that thread out of your inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device’s password or biometric, like a fingerprint. It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too,” Meta said in a blog post.
The company says the feature was developed also for those moments 'an extra-special chat arrives' when someone else is holding your phone.
“Our passion is to find new ways to help keep your messages private and secure. Today, we’re excited to bring to you a new feature we’re calling Chat Lock, which lets you protect your most intimate conversations behind one more layer of security,” it said.
“It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too. You can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group and selecting the lock option,” Meta said.
Meta said over the next few months they will be adding more options for Chat Lock.
This includes locking for companion devices and creating a custom password for chats.
".. So that you can use a unique password different from the one you use for your phone."
