Meta announced on Monday a Chat Lock feature for WhatsApp to let users put selected chats in a private folder that can only be opened with a password or biometric authentication.
While both individual and group chats can be hidden in the protected folder, user privacy is also secured by ensuring that notifications for these locked chats do not show message previews. The feature is launched worldwide.
“We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra-special chat arrives,” Meta said in its blog post.
In order to lock a WhatsApp chat, users will have to tap the name of the sender or group before selecting the lock option. To make these chats visible, users can pull down the inbox and reveal the folder of locked chats before unlocking them again with a password or biometric.
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Meta said that it planned to add more Chat Lock options, such as the ability to lock chats on other devices, as well as custom passwords that would not be the same as the smartphone password.
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