Get ready to have your WhatsApp more secured with its new feature

A lack of end-to-end encryption in Messenger makes me very unwilling to use that as my primary communications tool – even though most of my friends are on the platform.

WhatsApp is about to add a new feature though (iPhone only at this point but with Android likely to get a similar update later), which is appearing in early betas at the moment. If you’re on the WhatsApp Testflight program you’ll see this update roll out soon, the rest of us will have to wait.

From 1 Feb, WABetaInfo reports that beta testers have had access to a new menu option which allows them to enable authentication before WhatsApp will open and show messages. This is a similar idea to many banking apps, which require either TouchID or FaceID to allow access.

That means that if someone gets hold of your unlocked phone they won’t be able to access your WhatsApp chats without you authenticating yourself again.

How useful this is, depends on what you’re hoping to protect yourself from. For me, it’s a handy level of security that would prevent unauthorised people from accidentally messaging people, or deleting chats.

Of course, it doesn’t protect you if someone knows your PIN. In that case they’ll be able to access your WhatsApp as you would be able to. Again, because I have kids it’s handy to keep my PIN secret to prevent any expensive in-app purchases from happening by mistake.

The other advantage, of course, is that if you hand your unlocked phone to a friend any incoming messages won’t be automatically shown. That might save some blushes when your significant other is texting sweet nothings while you’re showing photos to buddies. (Forbes)

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