At the start of the year, we told you of WhatsApp’s plans to bring fingerprint authentication to its Android version. Well, the day is today that users can get a feel of the feature with the company rolling it out in the app’s latest Android beta.
According to WABetaInfo, the update is coming up for all Android beta users with devices running Android Marshmallow or newer and a fingerprint sensor. As long as you have updated your app, you can then open WhatsApp Settings, go to Account, then Privacy and here you can find a new option called Fingerprint lock.
If you tap on the option, you can then verify whether or not to enable the feature. If you choose to enable it, you can still reply to messages from notifications and answer WhatsApp calls, because the authentication is only required when you want to open the messenger app.
There are a number of authentication options to choose from for you to use the feature to access WhatsApp.
If you chose Immediately, WhatsApp will ask to authenticate your identity every time you open the app; You can as well opt to lock the app after 1 minute of inactivity or 30 minutes of inactivity.
Find out: How does WhatsApp make money?
Recently, a security flaw in the app was discovered to let hackers crack into people’s accounts and send fake messages. The introduction of fingerprint authentication for app users could make it a lot more secure to use and protect data and identity.
