Facebook-owned WhatsApp is rolling out the Fingerprint lock feature for Android beta users today. According to WhatsApp features tracker WABetaInfo. After enabling the Screen Lock feature for iOS beta users (more than 3 months ago), WhatsApp is finally
ready to release it for all Android users. In order to get the Fingerprint lock feature update, users need to update WhatsApp version to the 2.19.221 Android beta version.
ready to release it for all Android users. In order to get the Fingerprint lock feature update, users need to update WhatsApp version to the 2.19.221 Android beta version.
The recent updates also include important improvements for the Fingerprint lock feature in which it offers the possibility to choose when the user has to authenticate his identity in order to use the app.
Steps to enable Fingerprint lock feature, the user needs to open WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy: here you can find a new option called Fingerprint lock.
If you open Fingerprint lock, you can verify that’s finally possible to enable the feature. If you choose to enable the Fingerprint lock feature you can still reply to messages from notifications and answer WhatsApp calls, because the authentication is only required when you want to open WhatsApp.
After configuring the feature, you can test it immediately.
For example, if you chose “Immediately” option, WhatsApp will ask to authenticate your identity every time you open WhatsApp.
WABetaInfo added that “Immediately” is the best option to select, if you care for your privacy, but it’s very annoying because WhatsApp will always ask your fingerprint every time you want access to the app.
Apart from this, WhatsApp has recently brought improvements in the features where it shows a new option called Show content in notifications, so you can decide if you want to show or hide message and sender preview when the Fingerprint lock is enabled.
If you have already updated but you don’t see the feature, then you need to back up your chat history and then reinstall WhatsApp. Every time you reinstall WhatsApp, the most updated configurations from the server are downloaded, enabling the feature for you.
