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How to fingerprint lock your WhatsApp chats so pals and family can’t snoop on your texts

WORRIED about people snooping on your WhatsApp chats? You can add a fingerprint lock to stop anyone peeking.

It means you can hand over your phone to a pal or family member, safe in the knowledge that they can't pry on your texts.

This new feature works on both iOS and Android, so you're safe on either platform.

It's supposed to give you peace of mind when you hand your phone to someone else.

They can look at whatever you want them to, safe in the knowledge that they can't access your WhatsApp messages.

It's also great if you don't want the faff of a general phone lock, but want to make sure your messages stay private.

And it gives you a second layer of security, in case anyone knows your phone's written access code.

How to enable Fingerprint Lock for Android

First, make sure you've updated to the latest version of WhatsApp on your Android phone.

If you're not sure how to do this, open the Google Play Store and locate WhatsApp – and download any available updates.

Then follow these steps:

If the feature ever annoys you, it's possible to turn it off by following the above steps again.

Of course, Fingerprint Lock has been available on iPhones for a while.

Here's how to do it:

Open WhatsApp then go to Settings
Next tap Account and then tap Privacy
At the bottom, choose Screen Lock
You can then choose to unlock WhatsApp with Touch ID or Face ID, depending on your iPhone
Choose an amount of time for Screen Lock to be required
Then the next time you open your app, you'll be prompted to unlock it

Remember that you can turn this feature off at any time.

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