We’ve all felt the fear. You’ve handed over your phone to a friend or colleague to show them something – possibly holiday pics or an Instagram reel – and suddenly think ‘what if they go into my WhatsApp?’.
It may not be intentional – how many times have you tapped the screen just as a notification popped up and you end up in a different app entirely?
But what if they do get in? What will they see? What if you just sent a message to your partner complaining about them?
Oh the horror.
But a new WhatsApp function, currently in beta testing on Android, could put an end to that.
A screenshot shared by WABetaInfo shows users may soon be able to lock their app behind a biometric key, meaning they’ll need a fingerprint, face or other unique identifier, such as the device’s passcode, to open it.
This means if your phone falls into the wrong hands, your messages – NSFW or otherwise – are secure.
The report notes that WhatsApp calls can still be answered even when the app is locked.
Early indications suggest there will be three time limits for when the app locks after it is closed – immediately, as is often the case with banking apps, after one minute and after 30 minutes.
A simpler version of feature, protecting the app behind a fingerprint lock, has previously been released, but proved buggy.
Reporting the update, the WABetaInfo team said: ‘In our opinion, introducing this additional layer of security is an important step forward in enhancing user privacy and safeguarding personal data.
‘By offering multiple authentication methods, WhatsApp not only provides greater flexibility for users but also reinforces the integrity of their accounts against unauthorised access. In addition, we believe that this feature [using the passcode] may be particularly beneficial for users experiencing broken or temporarily malfunctioning biometric sensors on their devices.’
However, the team did warn against downloading the current beta version, which has been causing the app to crash, and recommend waiting for the new feature to be rolled out to the live version.
The update comes in the wake of WhatsApp developing its Chat Lock feature, which enables users to hide specific messages in a hidden folder that can only be accessed by them. In addition, they can hide notifications from those chats.
