Facebook Messenger users will soon be able to lock their messages on iOS. The company is implementing the option to require Face ID and Touch authentication in order to access the user’s inbox with a future update.
Having the option to unlock the Messenger app with Face ID or Touch ID brings the same experience that is already available on WhatsApp, which is also owned by Facebook. Users can define whether the authentication will always be required when opening the app or only after a period of time without using it, which can be from 1 minute to 1 hour.
Although the feature does not work on individual conversations, enabling the biometric authentication does add an extra layer of security to your private Messenger chats. The feature is currently being tested with a small number of Facebook Messenger users on iOS, but the company plans to expand it to more users in the future.
Facebook told Engadget that offering the option to lock messages is part of the company’s measures to ensure users privacy.
Unfortunately, there are no clues to when Facebook is planning to make this new feature available to everyone. If you don’t have it, there’s probably nothing you can do other than wait until a future update.
Facebook Messenger app for iOS is available for free on the App Store.
