WhatsApp has announced a new privacy feature for its messaging app called Chat Lock. As the name suggests, this feature offers a special password-protected folder in the app that can hide the chat threads you want. This feature can come in handy, for example, when you temporarily hand over your phone and don’t want your chats to be read.
To use the WhatsApp chat lock feature, you need to tap the name of the user or group on the relevant chat page and then tap the Chat Lock option. You can find the password protected folder that will contain all the secret chats at the top of the WhatsApp inbox screen. However, you will have to swipe down from the top of the inbox screen first to see the folder.
Chat Lock currently does not require a separate password and uses your phone’s built-in authentications such as biometric or PIN. WhatsApp said it will roll out new updates for its Chat Lock feature in the coming months, including the ability to create a folder-specific password independent of device security. Also, the Chat lock feature will be brought to assistive devices.
Among the chat updates that WhatsApp has made recently, is the introduction of the message editing feature on Android devices. The company is also testing a version of the instant messaging app for smartwatches running Wear OS. In addition, to block unwanted calls in the app, WhatsApp is working with Truecaller on a feature that will help users identify unknown callers.
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