There’s good news for WhatsApp users who enjoy monitoring their communications while at work: Chat Lock will soon be accessible on WhatsApp Web.
Anyone who has used WhatsApp on a PC or Mac will know it’s not quite the same experience as the mobile app, where all the best stuff lives.
However, Meta is gradually adding more functions to its online offering, including the return of View Once messages last year.
Now it seems the popular Chat Lock feature will also be added, with WABetaInfo reporting the function is in development.
The privacy feature was first released in May last year, allowing users to lock conversations behind a password in a separate folder, and muting notifications. This meant if anyone else was using your phone, they couldn’t accidentally (or deliberately) snoop on your intimate or secret convos.
Late last the feature got an upgrade, with the locked chats folder hidden completely, so anyone looking over your shoulder or snooping in any way wouldn’t know they existed. Instead, a secret code is needed to reveal its existence.
How locked chats will appear on desktop is still unknown – a screenshot acquired by WABetaInfo suggests they will have their own tab, but it is not known how or where this will be visible.
‘Locked chats are anticipated to have a dedicated tab, providing an additional level of privacy and security to user conversations,’ the WABetaInfo team wrote.
‘Since the feature is in development, the method for accessing this tab still remains uncertain at this point, and it is purely speculative to suggest that it will likely involve a secret code, potentially with the aim of enabling users to hide this tab.’
Nevertheless, Chat Lock on WhatsApp Web is a major boost for anyone with confidential, private or downright NSFW chats.
Gone for a coffee and forgot to lock your PC? No panic. Shared your screen in a Zoom call? No naughty notifications popping up here.
Mind, a release date has not been revealed yet, so watch those risky (or risqué) chats for now.
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.
