JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – WhatsApp users will soon be able to lock and hide conversations, thanks to a new feature.
Chat Lock will remove a chat thread from the app’s regular onscreen inbox and place it into a new folder that can only be opened by a password or biometric, such as facial recognition or a fingerprint.
Calling it “one more layer of security”, Meta – WhatsApp’s parent company – added Chat Lock will protect “your most intimate conversations” and hide notifications from them.
“We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra-special chat arrives,” Meta said.
Users can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group and selecting the lock option. To reveal the chats, one must slowly pull down on their inbox and enter a password or biometric.
As part of its privacy package, Meta allows WhatsApp users to encrypt their backups, block the ability to screenshot and make their messages disappear automatically.
