Messenger
Whatsapp now protects chats from prying eyes – this is how the new chat lock works
Some Whatsapp messages are only intended for your own eyes – and will be password protected in the future
© Aleksandar Nakic / Getty Images
Whatsapp wants to better protect spicy chats in the future. Because even if you don’t usually share your smartphone, it sometimes falls into the wrong hands. It sucks when a private message comes in just then.
Surprising announcement from Whatsapp: Germany’s most popular messenger now supports the so-called “chat lock”. The developers announced this on the official blog of the messenger. Behind this lies the possibility of protecting certain chats from prying eyes with an additional security function.
Access Whatsapp chat only with PIN or bio data
According to the developers, it works like this: If you move a chat behind the lock, it ends up in a specially designed folder at the top of the chat overview, still above the archive. As a reminder: the menu for the archive – and also that for the blocked chats – can only be seen if you slowly pull down the general overview. They are not automatically visible in a freshly opened app. If you want to read the blocked chats and answer them, you need the device password (PIN) or have to verify yourself with biometric data, i.e. by face or fingerprint scan.
More storage, more security
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To get a contact or a group behind the password barrier, all you have to do is tap on the chat in the overview for a long time and press “Block” in the menu that follows – it will disappear. However, this also has a disadvantage. Because once a chat is blocked, it is removed from the notifications. So you only find out what was written if you take a specific look behind the barrier.
Chat ban not yet available for everyone
But for Whatsapp, this is just the beginning. The developer writes: “Over the next few months we plan to add several more options for chat locking, such as enabling locking for companion devices or creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a different password than your phone .”
If you call up the app in a hurry to (finally) hide certain chats, you may have to be patient. As always, Whatsapp does not introduce innovations to all users at the same time, but gradually releases the function for everyone. This means that you may have to wait a while before the option appears in the app.