Users can now hide WhatsApp conversations using Chat Lock feature

Millions made the switch from WhatsApp to Telegram and Signal, when the messaging platform announced its plans to share data with Facebook. Ever since then WhatsApp's marketing campaign has focused on convincing users that their privacy is protected.

In its latest move to keep messages and pictures secure, WhatsApp has rolled out a new Chat Lock feature, as an added layer of security for intimate conversations.

Keep special conversations under wraps

• When a user locks a chat, the thread is extracted from the inbox and sent behind a different folder, accessible only with a password or a fingerprint.

• All one needs to do is type the name of the contact or a group, and select the lock option, after which scrolling down on the conversation and entering a password will reveal more.

• Messages in that chat don't appear in the notifications as well, so that another person holding the phone doesn't catch a glimpse of special conversations.

Additional options to be rolled out

• More nuance will be added to the feature with locks for companion devices as well as customised passwords for each conversation, instead of the same code for the handset and the chats.

• WhatsApp has been working on ways to control visibility of texts and online activity, ever since it allowed users to switch off blue ticks and hide last seen in chats.