Apple iPhone users will be the first to get a native biometric unlocking feature for WhatsApp in the coming weeks. Yes, this means you’ll be able to use Touch ID or the Face ID technology on the iPhone to unlock the popular messaging app on the device.
This feature is still in its alpha stage and as highlighted by WABetainfo, iPhone users can expect to get this feature via a WhatsApp software update soon. It’s interesting that the biometric unlock feature for WhatsApp will be first available for iPhone and not Android phones. The report doesn’t speak of a roll out timeline for Android.
You’ll be able to also unlock the app with a six-digit passcode, just in case you end up crossing the limit to unlock with touch or face ID.
The report is quick to point out that WhatsApp will have no access and won’t be storing the biometric data on its server. This will come as a relief to users, primarily because of the concern with WhatsApp being owned by Facebook. Also, iOS is known to safeguard privacy and data of its users, which works in favour of the iPhone owner.
The touch/face ID will be accessible from the privacy settings section on iPhones, which will be available once WhatsApp publicly offers the feature.
The biometric support, as claimed by the report, will be available to iPhones with fingerprint sensor running on iOS 8 or later. And for face ID, you’ll get this support on iPhone X, XR, XS and XS Max among others.
Once the feature is available, WhatsApp will add another protection layer to its app to ensure that every time the app is opened, the authentication message pops up.
The report also feels that Apple needs to work with WhatsApp on improving the speed at which the unlocking happens, which is on the slower side for now. This is the latest feature update for WhatsApp in less than a week.
Recently, the same source highlighted that WhatsApp will be getting vacation mode and the ability to link accounts with third-party apps like Instagram among others.
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