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Amid the news that WhatsApp was used by the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group to spy on more than 1,400 people, WhatsApp has released a new security feature for Android users. The Whatsapp fingerprint lock on Android was long due and is now available to users on Facebook’s instant messaging platform worldwide.
Fingerprint authentication for Android users was first made available to beta users this August. After a few months in the beta phase, it is now also available to users who are not in the beta channel. Even if someone knows your phone’s pass code or pattern, your WhatsApp chats will still be behind the fingerprints.
We asked for a long time and after months of beta-testing, the time has finally come. With WhatsApp on Android, users can now set fingerprint authentication for the app. This means that you can now secure your WhatsApp calls with an additional layer of biometric security. And that also means that you can say goodbye to all third-party lockers, or have the idea of switching to an iPhone just for this feature.
In its recent blog post, WhatsApp has announced that the fingerprint lock will allow authentication for all Android users. With this new feature, users can always back up their WhatsApp app with their fingerprint data whenever someone opens the app on their phone. The feature was previously introduced for iPhones where WhatsApp allowed its users to lock the app with TouchID or FaceID authentication. For Android devices WhatsApp has for the time being only the authentication by fingerprint introduced.
If you want to set an extra layer of security for your WhatsApp chats, you’ll need to update the app on the Google Play Store. Once the update is installed, users must navigate to the settings and access the privacy setting in the Accounts section to access the feature. Users will see an option to enable fingerprint lock.
WhatsApp also offers more options for the new fingerprint unlock feature. Users can set WhatsApp to ask for fingerprint authentication after the app closes, or set a specific timeout. In addition, the app provides an option to hide the content of the messages in the notifications to increase security.
Once the option is enabled, users in the WhatsApp app will be prompted for fingerprint data when it opens. Once the review is complete, the app opens and the user can access all chats and messages. The feature should work on phones with traditional capacitive fingerprint sensors along with the modern built-in fingerprint sensors. Unfortunately, you can use your biometric authentication phone to back up WhatsApp if it has face-unlocking systems.
With WhatsApp, users on iPhones can rely on both TouchID and FaceID to secure their WhatsApp chats. FaceID is the only biometric option for modern iPhone models. Therefore, there is the support for iOS for the time being.
How To Enable The WhatsApp Fingerprint Lock
To enable the WhatsApp fingerprint lock, go to Settings> Account> Privacy> Fingerprint Lock. You can also choose when to enable the fingerprint lock. You can set it to lock automatically immediately after closing, after 1 minute, or after 30 minutes. This is handy if you do not want to keep unlocking the app when you stop it. Besides the fingerprint method, there’s no other way to unlock your WhatsApp account (such as a PIN or pattern).
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