WhatsApp is currently rolling out a new feature called Chat Lock. As the name suggests, Chat Lock will do just that: lock your chats so that, should your phone fall in other hands, they can only be accessed with your permission.
“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,” WhatsApp says.
“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.”
WhatsApp says they’ll be adding more options for Chat Lock in coming months “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”. This is a reference to the ability to use WhatsApp on more than one phone that was rolled out recently.
Before the launch of Chat Lock, users have had to make do with full-on app locker apps which put entire apps under lock. On Telegram, one of WhatsApp’s rival messenger apps, users can set up a lock that requires extra authentication when one opens the app before viewing any chats. WhatsApp’s implementation, which allows users to pick the exact conversations they want kept away from prying eyes, is different and, probably, one its users will find very useful.
