Got a WhatsApp chat you want to hide from a family member? Now you can

SINGAPORE: Messaging application WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature called Chat Lock, which allows users to keep chats private and secure by requiring a password or biometric to access it.

Chat Lock “lets you protect your most intimate conversations behind one more layer of security”, WhatsApp said in a blog post on Monday (May 15).

Enabling the feature keeps selected chats out of the inbox and puts the chat behind its own folder that can only be accessed with a user’s device password or biometric, like a fingerprint. It also automatically hides the contents of these chats in notifications.

“We think this feature will be great for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives,” WhatsApp said in the post.

Users can enable the feature by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group chat and selecting the lock option.

To reveal these chats, a user needs to slowly pull down on their inbox and enter their phone password or biometric.

The company also said it would add more options for Chat Lock over the next few months, including locking for companion devices and creating a custom password for the chats so users can use a unique password different from the one they use for their phone.

In response to CNA's query, WhatsApp said Chat Lock would be rolled out globally over the next few weeks.

WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption – which means messages can only be seen by the sender and recipient – but this does not prevent other people from seeing chats when they have unlocked access to a user’s phone.

Last month, WhatsApp released updates that enable users to create single-vote polls, which allow respondents to vote only once, and forward media with captions.