WhatsApp adds new secret code feature to help protect chats

WhatsApp has just announced a small, yet important update that further improves the app’s privacy and security aspects. Secret code is a new feature that allows users to secure locked chats and add an extra layer of security.

Thanks to the new feature, WhatsApp users can now set a unique password different from what they use to unlock their phones to protect locked chats. In addition, the new feature introduces the ability to hide the Locked Chats folder from the chatlist, which means that they can only be discovered by typing the secret code in the search bar.

This is an optional feature, so you can still choose to have all your locked chats (or some of them) still appear in the chatlist. Another nifty quality-of-life change is the way you can lock chats after the update.

Previously, in order to lock a chat, you had to visit the chat’s settings. However, with the latest version of WhatsApp, you can simply long press to lock a chat, no need for extra taps.

According to WhatsApp, the new secret code feature is already rolling out, but it will take months to be available globally, so be patient if you don’t see it on your phone yet.