WhatsApp prioritizes the privacy of its users by releasing the fingerprint lock option, a feature considered old for the iPhone users. (Image via Tech Live News)

WhatsApp adds new security feature: fingerprint lock

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Internet & IT
Nov 01, 2019
1917
Not that new for Apple’s users, the American messaging service, WhatsApp, gave its users another layer of biometric protection on Thursday. While WhatsApp is still developing “Dark Theme” for its user interface (UI), it prioritizes the security for its users by adding a fingerprint option.

In other words, if you already secured your phone by fingerprint scanner or face scanner, you will have to unlock your WhatsApp, a kind of security measure found in your banking app more often than not.

For some avid Android users, the feature is not new as they already found a third-party app to fortify their WhatsApp account with biometric authentication. However, by the new update from WhatsApp, you may bid adieu to the third-party app.

If you have not updated your WhatsApp, you might want to do it now. For the 2.19.308 version, you can slide the option on by accessing “Settings” > “Account” > “Privacy” > “Fingerprint lock”. You can turn it on and adjust how you want WhatsApp to lock the app. For now, the options range to “Immediately”, “After 1 minute”, and “After 30 minutes”.

Truth be told, a tech site, known for its prediction of the next WhatsApp feature, WABetaInfo, already leaked the fingerprint lock feature since August. Earlier this year, WhatsApp announced in February that Apple’s users can protect their chats from other people with Touch ID and even Face ID!

It exists already in Apple. Then, when will “Face lock” be available for Android? WhatsApp did not drop any hint. It seems, for “Face lock”, Android’s users will need to keep using the third-party app until WhatsApp provide it natively.

Source: https://bit.ly/327htKO