If you’ve been paying attention to WhatsApp’s updates over the past year, you’re probably aware of Locked Chats – the app’s answer to hipsters, cheaters, or those who are a little too paranoid. WhatsApp followed it up with an update that would station some extra security outside the chats in the form of biometric credentials, PINs or passwords. Great, right?
Wrong. The change only allowed users to use their devices’s local PINs or passwords, turning away anyone looking for something a bit more personal to WhatsApp. It only took four months, but WhatsApp finally got around to custom passwords. At least, that’s what the folks over at WABetaInfo had to say (who else?).
WhatsApp’s got this update on lock
WABetaInfo first spotted the feature in the Android 2.23.21.9 beta update. Don’t bother attempting to get in – it’s a VIP club and WhatsApp isn’t looking for any new members. Anyone trying to get into WABetaInfo’s Locked Chats would need to know the super-secret password before being allowed entry.
The update also offers a simpler way of finding your locked chats by typing in your secret code in the search bar, if scrolling through your chats was such a hassle before. We can’t help but wonder how you’ll be spending all that extra time you’ve saved.
Since the feature’s launch, users have been asking WhatsApp for a way to synchronise their locked chats across multiple devices like they’d be able to do with their unlocked chats. With the introduction of custom passwords, users can now do exactly that. Before, locked chats were limited by the device’s protection it was on, unable to translate biometric credentials to most laptops or tablets.
As for when you’ll get to try out the update, not even the wizards at WABetaInfo know.