- WABetaInfo has found a new privacy feature on a beta of WhatsApp for Android
- This would lock certain chats with a password or fingerprint.
- Currently it is already possible to lock the whole app (but not specific chats)
- Other new features are in the pipeline, including a feature that will allow newsletters to be published on Meta’s messaging app.
The engineers of WhatsApp are constantly exploring new ways to improve the messaging experience. And according to news site WABetaInfo, among the new features these engineers are working on is a new feature that will protect confidential conversations on the app. Specifically, when this feature becomes available, it will be possible to protect certain chats with a password or a biometric sensor.
It was on a beta version of the WhatsApp application for Android (2.23.8.2) that our colleagues would have found this novelty to be tested. The user could add a discussion or a group to a new list, that of locked discussions. And once that’s done, those chats would only be accessible from that list.
? WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.8.2: what’s new?
WhatsApp is working on a feature that allows users to lock chats and keep them hidden, available in a future update of the app! pic.twitter.com/GrKyWmUWoh
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) April 1, 2023
And to open it, a password or a fingerprint (or some other means of biometric unlocking?) is required. The protection also concerns the files exchanged, since if you receive, for example, a photo in a locked discussion, it is not automatically downloaded to your smartphone.
While WhatsApp already encrypts its discussions from end to end (which makes the content readable on its servers), this novelty should even more encourage people wishing to protect their conversations to use the Meta app. Unfortunately, we do not know when this novelty will be finalized.
Other WhatsApp news in the pipeline
But in the meantime, know that it is already possible to lock the entire WhatsApp application on your Android or iOS smartphone. This feature makes the app inaccessible only if the user uses their fingerprint scanner or the FaceID facial recognition module on iPhone.
This possibility of locking certain discussions on WhatsApp is not the only novelty that will arrive on the application of Meta. For example, regarding ephemeral messages, WhatsApp should offer more options for the lifetime of messages. In all, the app would like to offer 15 options, in addition to 24 hour, 7 day and 90 day options. In addition, WhatsApp would soon offer an exception system for these ephemeral messages.
The idea is that you can make your messages ephemeral, while still being able to tell the app not to delete specific content, if it contains important information. Alternatively, WhatsApp would also be testing a feature that will allow posting and streaming of in-app newsletters.
But of course, while waiting for an official confirmation from Meta, all this information should be considered with caution for the moment.
