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WhatsApp has just made locked chats even more private – by hiding them completely behind a secret code.
The ‘Chat Lock’ feature was unveiled earlier this year, designed to help users keep their ‘most intimate conversations’ safe from prying eyes by protecting them with a password and filing them in a separate folder.
In addition, notifications from locked chats can’t pop up at inopportune moments, such as when you’ve just passed the phone to a friend to look at some photos.
Now, locked chats will be hidden from view entirely until users enter their secret code in the search bar, which will reveal all the conversations you don’t want others snooping on.
Previously it was still fairly obvious to any over-the-shoulder peekers that a user had a locked chats folder, a surefire way to pique interest – or suspicion.
Announcing Chat Lock in May, WhatsApp owner Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: ‘New locked chats in WhatsApp make your conversations more private. They’re hidden in a password protected folder and notifications won’t show sender or message content.’
Announcing the latest update, a statement from the company said: ‘We’re so happy our community has been loving Chat Lock, and hope that secret code makes it even more useful to them.
‘Secret code starts rolling out today, and in the coming months will be available globally. We’re excited to keep bringing more functions to Chat Lock to help people protect their privacy, let us know what you think.’
However, users do not have to hide their locked chats, and will have the option to keep them in the main conversations menu.
WhatsApp is currently working on several privacy features, including ‘listen once’ voice notes, which are being tested in beta.
And in some long-awaited news, WhatsApp recently announced the ability to log into two separate accounts on one phone, toggling between the two.
Unveiled as a way to combine the ‘work you and fun you’ in one device, it was also billed a ‘cheater’s paradise’ online, allowing secret accounts to be kept hidden without the need for a burner phone.
How to hide locked chats on WhatsApp
So far, as with everything on the app, it looks as though it will be pretty simple to switch.
A screenshot acquired by WABetaInfo suggests it will be a case of toggling on ‘hide locked chats’ and setting up a secret code to access them.
What happens if a user forgets the code isn’t yet known.
How to turn on WhatsApp's Chat Lock
You can turn Chat Lock on within the chat info for each individual chat that you want to block.
You will be prompted to set up your device authentication – such as passcode, fingerprint or face ID – if you have not done so already before the chat can be locked.
The simple steps are as follows:
- Tap on the name of the contact or group, then hit Chat lock
- Toggle on Lock this chat with fingerprint or Lock This Chat with Face ID.
- Tap View to see the chat in the Locked chats folder.
Locked chats will then be removed from the thread in the app’s inbox and placed into a new folder that is secured by your password or biometric pass, as well as hiding notifications from the locked chats.
All locked chats are stored in the locked chat folder in your listed chats.
How to turn off chat lock
Turning it off also very simple – all you have to do is go back into the chat info on the locked chat and toggle the chat lock off, confirmin
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