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WhatsApp is working on improving its chat lock feature. The Meta-owned messaging app will allow users to create custom secret codes for locked chats. Currently, the app uses your phone’s lock code (PIN) or fingerprint authentication to give you access to those chats.
Locked chats in WhatsApp will be more secure with secret codes
WhatsApp rolled out the chat lock feature in May this year. You can lock a chat from a contact’s info page. Once locked, the chat won’t show up on the main feed, i.e. the Chats tab. The app creates a separate section for locked conversations, which you can access by pulling down the feed and entering your phone’s PIN or fingerprint authentication.
All locked chats are housed within this section. They are locked as soon as you go back to the main feed. Messages from these chats also don’t show up in search results and notifications. The idea is to make your private conversations more secure. However, if someone already knows your phone’s PIN or has cloned your fingerprint, they may be able to access those chats.
The company is now fixing this problem with a custom secret code. Spotted by reputed WhatsApp insiders at WABetaInfo, the app will gain a new page where you can create a unique code and use it to unlock your locked chats. When using secret codes, PIN or fingerprint unlocking won’t work. Otherwise, it’ll defeat the whole purpose of the new feature.
A screenshot shared by the publication shows that a secret code can be a word (presumably a combination of any letters) or an emoji. You might be able to find locked chats by directly entering this code in the search bar. Moreover, configuring a secret code will lock chats on your companion devices as well. Users have been asking for this ability ever since WhatsApp debuted the chat lock feature. The company is now working on it.
The new feature is currently in development
There’s no telling when the new secret code feature will roll out to WhatsApp users. The company is still developing the tool. It’s not even available in the beta channel, let alone the stable version. Hopefully, WhatsApp will quickly complete the development work and push the feature to users globally. Make sure to keep the app updated, so you don’t miss out on the latest additions. You can click the button below to update the app from the Google Play Store.