Some of the most personal things people can save on their phones, can include photos and videos, and messages.
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging apps in terms of raw number. the messaging app has been providing users the ability to communicate with others, as long as they have a valid phone number and have installed the WhatsApp app.
Knowing that users can speak about just anything, WhatsApp has long been utilizing end-to-end encryption. This essentially makes the messages inside chats readable to only the sender and the intended recipient.
This prevents anyone, including WhatsApp, from reading the messages.
But what if someone has physical access to a user's phone? End-to-end encryption is useless here.
This is where WhatsApp introduces one big privacy update, which hides chats.
what locked chats? nothing to see here…
soon you can hide your locked chats folder. then reveal it by typing your secret code into the search bar pic.twitter.com/PMwMykBHJY— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) November 30, 2023
By hiding chats behind a lock and a key, prying eyes won't even know conversations exist.
Before this, WhatsApp has a privacy option, which puts WhatsApp behind a password. This effectively prevents anyone from accessing a user's WhatsApp account. But what if another person forces the user to unlock the WhatsApp app?
In this scenario, unlocking the app will reveal every single chat and conversations available.
To prevent this, WhatsApp has what it calls the 'Chat Lock'.
First announced earlier this 2023, with users able to hide certain conversations behind biometric security such as Face ID or the fingerprint scanner.
It's a useful function that keeps messages away from prying eyes.
With it, users can avoid arguments or suspicion by acting like such sensitive texts don't even exist.
One problem about this feature is that, it only works on the main device the user is using.
This means if user has a secondary device where they are logged into WhatsApp, Chat Locked messages can still be read without needing any additional security.
It's a worry for anyone relying on this service to keep things private.
WhatsApp has updated Chat Lock with a fix it calls the 'Secret Code'.
This feature allows users to add a unique set of numbers to ensure that certain conversations stay hidden across all devices.
Hidden chats are stored inside the Locked Chats folder, which cannot be viewed from the chat list.
"Earlier this year we rolled out Chat Lock to help people protect their more sensitive conversations. Today we’re launching secret code, an additional way to protect those chats and make them harder to find if someone has access to your phone or you share a phone with someone else."
"We’re so happy our community has been loving Chat Lock, and hope that secret code makes it even more useful to them. Secret code starts rolling out today, and in the coming months will be available globally."
In other words, Secret Code allows users to make selected chats disappear entirely from the list on WhatsApp.
No one can see them.
Even the user themselves, before the Secret Code is reentered in the search bar.