To provide additional privacy and security to its users, WhatsApp decided to introduce the ‘WhatsApp Chat Lock Feature’. The Meta-owned instant messaging application announced this feature recently so that people can safeguard their confidential chats behind many layers of security.
What is WhatsApp Chat Lock Feature?
This new WhatsApp feature allows users to select both personal and group chats that they wish to keep a secret or hidden. The company has launched this feature globally.
According to the WhatsApp blog “Locking a chat takes that thread out of the inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device password or biometric, like a fingerprint. It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too.”
This feature adds an addition to WhatsApp’s already secured platform that offers the options to archive chats, end-to-end encryption, encrypted backup, disappearing messages, screenshot blocking, and other privacy features.
What are the Benefits of the WhatsApp Chat Lock Feature?
This feature can be great for people who usually have to share devices in offices or at work. In the official video uploaded by WhatsApp, it is clearly shown that this feature can be helpful for people who share their phone with others, such as family members, which is fairly common in some regions.
While launching the feature, the instant messaging app stated “We think this feature will be great for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives.
“You can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group and selecting the lock option. To reveal these chats, slowly pull down on your inbox and enter your phone password or biometric.”
How to Use WhatsApp Chat Lock Feature?
To lock a WhatsApp chat, here are the steps mentioned by WhatsApp Help Center :
- Update WhatsApp to the latest version
- Tap Chat info then Chat Lock
- Tap Lock this chat with fingerprint or Lock This Chat with Face ID.
- Tap View to see the chat in the Locked Chats folder.
To view the locked chats here are the steps:
- Go to chats and Swipe down slowly.
- Tap the folder labeled “Locked Chats”
- Provide your biometric authentication- FaceID or Fingerprint to unlock
- Tap the chat to view or send message
The Help Center section mentions that “When chats are locked, the notification content and contact are hidden.
“The notification will show as WhatsApp: 1 new message.
To help keep media private, you’ll have to turn chat lock off to save media to your phone’s gallery.”
What other new features were introduced by WhatsApp?
Along with WhatsApp Chat Lock Feature, the platform introduced several other new features recently:
- “New updates to Polls and sharing with captions on WhatsApp” on May 4, 2023
- “One WhatsApp account, now across multiple phones” on April 25, 2023
- “Keep In Chat: Your New Sender Superpower” on April 21, 2023
WhatsApp further plans to expand the horizon of its new Chat Lock feature stating that “Over the next few months we’re going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locking for companion devices and creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password different from the one you use for your phone.”
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