WhatsApp Introduces Chat Lock Feature For Users: Here's Everything You Should Know

Meta-owned WhatsApp has introduced several privacy-centric features in the past.

WhatsApp already offers end-to-end encryption.

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In a bid to protect private conversations, WhatsApp, the world's most popular messaging platform has introduced what it calls "Chat Lock" feature for its users. WhatsApp Chat Lock feature is here to add "another layer" of security to the conversations on the messaging platform.

WhatsApp parent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced the WhatsApp Chat Lock feature and the feature will let users protect their intimate conversations with a password and secures them in a separate folder. When someone messages them and they have that chat locked, the sender’s name and the content of the message will also be hidden, as part of the new feature.

This feature essentially means locking a chat taking that thread out of the inbox and putting it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with a device's password or biometric, such as a fingerprint. The feature also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too.

"We think this feature will be great for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives. You can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group and selecting the lock option. To reveal these chats, slowly pull down on your inbox and enter your phone password or biometric," the Meta-owned company wrote in a blog post on Monday.

It should be noted that Meta-owned WhatsApp has introduced several privacy-centric features in the past. WhatsApp already has end-to-end encryption, encrypted chat backup, screenshot blocking, disappearing messages and the ability to control who can access the last seen status.

WhatsApp mentioned it would add more options for Chat Lock feature in the future.

"Over the next few months we’re going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locking for companion devices and creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password different from the one you use for your phone," the company added in the blog post.