WhatsApp is undoubtedly the most popular messaging platform, especially in Africa and other emerging markets. The platform has consistently grown in popularity and since it hosts our deepest secrets in the form of conversations, we might want to ensure that we keep those secrets a secret.

One way to do so is to ensure that you have a secure lockscreen enabled on your phone. However, some people may have the privilege of knowing your lockscreen password but that doesn’t mean you want them reading your WhatsApp conversations.

Here is how to keep those prying eyes from reading through your WhatsApp messages:

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iOS

It is actually easier to lock your WhatsApp on iOS than it is on Android thanks to the platform enabling native screen lock support. This means that you can lock your WhatsApp, making it only accessible to you through your biometrics. Here’s how to do it:

• Open WhatsApp
• Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Screen Lock
• Enable FaceID or TouchID depending on the model of iPhone you are using
• Then select how long you want the app to wait before it relocks itself again once you exit it

WhatsApp does warn that someone can still respond to your messages through the notifications unless you have chosen to hide them from within iOS settings and WhatsApp calls can still be answered even when the app is locked.

Android

WhatsApp finally released a native method to lock your chats using your fingerprint scanner without the use of a third-party app. As much as the feature comes eight months after iOS users got it, we’re still glad that it had reached the Android world.

Here’s how to do it:

• Open WhatsApp
• Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Fingerprint Lock
• Enable Fingerprint lock
• Then select how long you want the app to wait before it relocks itself again once you exit it

There’s now an option to enable whether or not you will be able to see messages through the notification panel. Enabling this will allow anyone to see your messages in case a notification comes through, disabling it will hide your messages even on the notification panel.