WhatsApp launches Chat Lock for secret messages
WhatsApp has launched a new privacy-enhancing feature to help users protect their most intimate conversations from overly-curious eyes.
Dubbed Chat Lock, the feature lets users take selected one-on-one or group conversations out of their main inbox and put them in a folder that can only be accessed with a password or biometrics — like a fingerprint or facial scan.
Chat Lock also automatically hides the content of these chats in notifications.
WhatsApp believes the feature will be great for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or when a person is holding someone else’s phone and an “extra special chat” arrives.
To lock a chat, users must open the individual or group chat they want to secure, tap on the name at the top and scroll down to the “Chat Lock” option, which will appear just beneath the “Disappearing messages” setting.
To reveal locked chats, users must slowly pull down on their primary inbox and enter their phone’s password or provide biometrics.
Screenshots showing the steps for revealing locked chats on WhatsApp
MyBroadband found the feature was already available on a Samsung Galaxy S22 running WhatsApp Messenger for Android version 2.23.9.75.
An iPhone 14 running the latest WhatsApp for iOS version — 23.9.77 — did not yet have the feature.
WhatsApp typically rolls out new features to different batches of users over time.
The promotional video below provides an overview of the WhatsApp Chat Lock feature and its benefits.
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