Until now the only option was to lock the entire application under a password, but not individual conversations or groups
If you don’t want someone who often has access to your phone, such as a family member or your partner, to be able to access your WhatsApp chats, there’s now an easy way to do it. Meta has announced Chat Lock, a feature that allows you to block access to certain conversations with your phone’s PIN or biometric identification.
For the last four years, WhatsApp has allowed users to add fingerprint or facial recognition lock to the app. If a user wants their conversation to be more secure, it is possible to ask for a password to access the device again before the application is run.
But Chat Lock brings that idea to individual conversations and groups differently. That is, it does not block the WhatsApp app completely, but blocks specific conversations within it.
Protected conversations go into a special folder that has some additional security measures. For example, notifications for chats inside that folder never show the contents of messages.
“We think this feature will be great for anyone who shares their phone with a family member from time to time, or for those moments when someone else is using your phone when a particular chat comes up.” Happens,” they explain to Meta.
To block a chat, if you have the latest version of the app, just tap on its name and select the Block option. To access all blocked chats, all you have to do is slide down the list of messages from the main page and put your fingerprint or check facial recognition.
Meta has also advanced that it will release new functions in the coming months, such as the possibility to use a different password on the phone to access these messages.
