With the WhatsApp app for Android,you can already safeguard your chatswith a fingerprint lock using an in-app option. This ensures your personal messages remain private even if your phone ends up with someone else. But a lot of users preferusing WhatsApp Web on their laptopsas well, where the chats may not be as secure without proper protection. WhatsApp Web is now addressing that with a new option to lock your chats behind a password for better privacy.
WhatsApp Web is a neat way to access your chats on the desktop without constantly switching between your phone and the laptop while working. Some WhatsApp Web beta users have started seeing a new way to add a layer of security to their chats when they aren’t around their laptops. Under WhatsApp’s Privacy settings, you will find a new screen lock option that lets you set a password for accessing WhatsApp Web, according toWABetaInfo.
Once you’ve set up the password, you’re able to choose when it prompts you to authenticate yourself — the information is currently sparse on what these choices are. However, the outlet notes that you will have to log out from your web session and sign in again by scanning a QR code using your phone in case you forget the password.
This additional authentication surely improves the safety and privacy of your chats quite a bit. Even if you leave your computer unattended at work or at home, others won’t be able to access your chats without knowing this WhatsApp Web-specific password. However, it would’ve been a lot easier for the users if WhatsApp relied on the laptop’s biometric authentication method instead of requiring you to enter a long password each time. While the feature is still in beta and WhatsApp could add more such convenience features over time, you canuse a quality password manager, for now, to quickly enter this new password.
WhatsApp first announced that it was working on password authentication for WhatsApp Web in November 2022. After months of internal testing, the feature is finally making its way to the beta version of WhatsApp Web. But there is a chance that you may not see the new option under Privacy settings right away as it’s still being rolled out slowly. Your best bet is to wait for it to reach you in the next few days.
