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WhatsApp has recently announced WhatsApp on Smartwatch on WearOS, and several features were released with the Beta version of WhatsApp on Mobile and Desktop. The new features include Chat Lock, which you can use to lock your chats in a protected folder using biometric or passcode authentication, the ability to keep messages from disappearing, allowing you to keep messages safe from disappearing after a set period, and a redesigned Context Menu inspired by iOS, just like Bottom Navigation. Without further ado, let’s check out more about this.

WhatsApp Chat Lock

Mark Zuckerberg announced the Chat Lock feature for iOS and Android through the Official Meta Channel. This allows users to lock their chats in a protected folder. This feature can be enabled from the Chat info and then by clicking on the Lock Option. If you have locked the conversation, then the Locked Chat will appear in the Locked Chats Section and can only be unlocked by using a passcode, fingerprint, or Face ID.

WhatsApp is rolling out a new update with a Chat Lock feature, the ability to save messages from Disappearing Messages, and a redesigned context menu for chats.

This feature has several benefits which will offer extra layers of privacy to those who want to keep their conversations confidential, especially for those who share their phone with others or who are concerned about someone else accessing their messages. This feature is currently available in Beta. To join the Beta, you can update WhatsApp for Android from the Google Play Store Beta Program and for iOS from the App Store via the TestFlight app. It is expected to be rolled out to stable release to more users over the coming days and to everyone in the coming weeks, which means this option will only be available if the feature is available for their account.

How WhatsApp Chat Lock Works

This new feature allows users to lock their conversations in a protected folder. For this, users can lock a chat by going to Chat info and selecting the Lock Option, which prompts them to create a password or use biometric authentication to lock the chat. Once the chat is locked, it will appear in the Locked Chat section of the app. If you want to open a locked chat, there will be a prompt asking you to enter your passcode or use biometric authentication. Once this feature is enabled, the author and message preview in notifications won’t have any preview for chat notifications, and media won’t automatically be shared in the Chats to the Phone’s Gallery.

Keep Messages and Redesign Message Menu on WhatsApp Desktop and Mobile

WhatsApp started rolling out a new update for Windows Native. With this update, users can now keep messages from disappearing, which will prevent certain messages from disappearing so that if something is useful for users, they can save important messages or refer back to messages that have disappeared. There is also a redesigned message menu with a reaction bar.

How to Use Keep Message

To use this feature, open the chat and then select the message that you want to keep from disappearing. Click on the three-dot menu that appears in the upper-right corner and then select “Keep” within the message menu. Once this message is kept, it will remain in the chat even after the disappearing timer has expired.

  • Open the chat with the message that you want to keep, then long-press on the message.
  • After this, tap on “Keep.”
  • To get back to the kept message: tap on the chat info icon and then tap on “Kept Messages” within a separate section of the chat. If users decide to keep some messages from disappearing, they will be listed within the chat info screen. Also, everyone in the conversation is still in control over those messages.
  • If you want to unkeep a message, tap “Kept Messages,” long-press on the message that you want to unkeep, and then tap “Unkeep.” They can use the “Unkeep” action to restore the message’s ability to disappear. If your recipient later decides or you later decide that they don’t want you to have their address anymore, they can unkeep the message, and it will disappear from the chat.

Everyone in the chat has control over those messages, whether or not the message is kept from disappearing. In case users don’t want to keep a message from disappearing, as for the reaction bar, open the chat and then select the message that you want to react to, and then click on the reaction bar at the bottom of the message and then select the emoji you want to use.

This feature is currently in Beta and expected to be stable for everyone in the coming weeks. To install the WhatsApp beta, head over to the Microsoft Store to download and click on the “Get” button to install the update.

Keep Messages from Disappearing on Mobile

This feature will be available on Android and iOS. The company is also releasing a new interface that looks more compact and has a context menu that is easier to use on Android, which is inspired by iOS and includes the bottom navigation bar. The new message is more compact and easier to use and includes the following options:

  • Copy
  • Forward
  • Share
  • Info
  • More

Within the “More” option, there are additional options, such as:

  • Report
  • Block
  • Mute
  • Star
  • Pin

Several redesigns are planned for future updates. This feature is currently available on the beta version of WhatsApp, which users can download from the Google Play Store Beta Program. Thanks for being with us. We would like to know your valuable opinions and feedback. If there are any queries, share them with us in the comment section below. Stay tuned for more updates in the future.

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