Many users, having set a password on their iPhone , believe that it will protect all data and applications installed on the smartphone. However, even this cannot protect your confidential information from the prying eyes of people to whom you yourself gave your smartphone after unlocking it. For example, wanting to show vacation photos. It is for such situations that developers of third-party applications and especially messengers offer an additional level of protection. In the settings, you can set a password and activate Face ID or Touch ID to enter directly into the application.
This approach won’t work in all situations, but it’s still better than nothing. Let’s see how you can lock WhatsApp and restrict access to your correspondence . It should be noted that this feature is also relevant for WhatsApp Business .
How to put a password on WhatsApp
Unfortunately, WhatsApp remains catching up on all fronts.
Unfortunately, WhatsApp has long been on the list of catch-ups in terms of its functionality. At a time when the same Telegram allows you to set a separate password code and access using Touch ID or Face ID at the entrance, WhatsApp cannot boast of such. The most you can do is just activate Touch ID or Face ID and a password that will match the one to unlock your iPhone. Security in this situation, of course, is far from ideal, but better than nothing.
To block access to WhatsApp , do the following:
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- Open whatsapp.
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- Go to the “Settings” tab.
- Select “Account”.
- Go to the “Privacy” section.
- Scroll to the very bottom of the page and select Lock Screen.
- Activate “Require Face ID” or “Require Touch ID”.
- Choose how long to request biometrics after.
- Close whatsapp.
- Swipe up from the navigation bar or double-tap the Home button to bring up the multitasking bar.
- Swipe the WhatsApp app to close completely.
- Launch it again and allow Face ID or Touch ID to be used when you launch the app.
After these settings , it will be possible to enter WhatsApp only using biometrics or a passcode . However, attention should be paid to the following point. Due to the fact that the application uses a system passcode, after several unsuccessful attempts at Face ID or Touch ID , the system will prompt you to enter passcode. And if a person knows it, he will be able to see your chats without any problems.
Often we add the biometrics of our loved ones to our smartphones and at the same time do not tell them the passcode as unnecessary. In such a situation, you can restrict their access to chats in WhatsApp. For this you need:
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- Open whatsapp.
- Go to the “Settings” tab and activate the requirement for Face ID or Touch ID according to the instructions above.
- Open “Settings” iPhone.
- Go to “Face ID & Passcode” or “Touch ID & Passcode”.
- Select “More Applications”.
- Find WhatsApp in the list and disable its access to biometrics.
After these settings, it will be possible to enter WhatsApp only using the passcode to unlock your iPhone. If no one except you knows it, then it will be possible to secure your correspondence.
How to change passcode on iPhone
WhatsApp developers do not even try to target more advanced competitors.
Separately, I advise you to complicate the password for unlocking at least six characters, and preferably more. To do this, do the following:
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- Open “Settings”.
- Go to Face ID & Passcode or Touch ID & Passcode.
- Scroll down to “Change Passcode”.
- After entering the passcode, click on “Passcode Options” and select any option that is more than four characters convenient for you.
This will help to significantly secure confidential correspondence. But do not forget that in some situations, photos and videos from such chats are automatically saved to the Photos application . If you let someone see your pictures, then you can stumble upon unwanted or simply personal photos and videos received through WhatsApp. Therefore, if you have something to hide from prying eyes, then I advise you to disable and automatically save files to the media library . To do this, do the following:
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- Open whatsapp.
- Go to the “Settings” tab.
- Select “Chats”.
- Turn off the switch next to “To Camera Roll”.
After these steps, all media files will not be saved to the media library, and you will have to add them there manually. For what reason, WhatsApp does not allow you to create an excellent password code from the system one, it is completely incomprehensible.
But let’s hope that someday progress will come to this. In the meantime, you have to be content with what you have and look for loopholes so as not to let strangers into your chat. I would like to believe that the developers will listen to their users and give more settings to maintain privacy.
