{"id":146761,"date":"2019-08-14T21:55:45","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T21:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=146761"},"modified":"2025-07-01T21:34:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T04:34:46","slug":"whatsapp-android-fingerprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/whatsapp-android-fingerprint\/","title":{"rendered":"WhatsApp on Android gets fingerprint lock"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It has been a while since we\u2019ve been able to tell you about a significant WhatsApp development. After an endless stream of incoming updates, things recently slowed down. Well, finally we can bring you news of a very interesting update, although it isn\u2019t exactly a new one. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/whatsapp-android-security\">We first told you about WhatsApp\u2019s plans to add fingerprint identification to the Android version of the app back in January<\/a>, and we can now tell you that the feature is finally about to land.<\/p>\n<h2>WhatsApp has already started rolling out Fingerprint lock feature the members of the Android WhatsApp beta program<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-146905\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/07\/Fingerprint_security_fdr1yr.jpg\" alt=\"Fingerprint security\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Fingerprint authentication landed on the beta version of WhatsApp for iOS months ago and is now finally making the leap to Android too. Once enabled, users will be able to secure their WhatsApp chats behind fingerprint authentication. There is also an option to hide content shown in system notifications behind the fingerprint lock feature too.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"WhatsApp Messenger\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_optimized,f_auto\/p\/6b5a0468-96d1-11e6-bfc6-00163ec9f5fa\/1398466786\/whatsapp-messenger-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">WhatsApp Messenger<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--80\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"80\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"8\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">8<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>The feature lands for all Android beta users who\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/wabetainfo.com\/whatsapp-is-rolling-out-the-fingerprint-lock-feature-for-android-beta-users-today\/\">updated their WhatsApp to version 2.19.221<\/a>. The only catch is that you\u2019ll have to be using an Android phone running Marshmallow or later and, rather obviously, your phone will need a fingerprint sensor.<\/p>\n<h3>How to use the new Fingerprint lock feature on WhatsApp for Android<\/h3>\n<p>Once you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your Android smartphone, you\u2019ll have to activate it and confirm your fingerprint before you can use it. This is what you\u2019ll need to do to activate the WhatsApp fingerprint lock.<\/p>\n<h5>1. Open the WhatsApp<strong> Settings<\/strong> menu and then tap <strong>Account<\/strong> and then <strong>Privacy<\/strong>. You\u2019ll then see the new <strong>Fingerprint lock option.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<figure id=\"attachment_146908\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146908\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-146908\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/07\/WhatsApp_android_fingerprint_security_1_dmjbux.jpg\" alt=\"fingerpint lock whatsapp\" width=\"350\" height=\"307\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-146908\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image via: <a href=\"https:\/\/wabetainfo.com\/whatsapp-is-rolling-out-the-fingerprint-lock-feature-for-android-beta-users-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WABetaInfo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>2. Open <strong>Fingerprint lock and then<\/strong>\u00a0enable\u00a0<strong>Unlock with fingerprint.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<figure id=\"attachment_146910\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146910\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-146910\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp_android_fingerprint_security_2_j3nqxz.jpg\" alt=\"whatsapp fingerprint scanner\" width=\"350\" height=\"758\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-146910\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image via: <a href=\"https:\/\/wabetainfo.com\/whatsapp-is-rolling-out-the-fingerprint-lock-feature-for-android-beta-users-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WABetaInfo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>3. Confirm your fingerprint using your phone\u2019s fingerprint sensor. This will then open up some different options for the Fingerprint lock feature including how quickly you want WhatsApp to lock after each use and whether you want WhatsApp to show message content in your system notifications.<\/h5>\n<figure id=\"attachment_146911\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146911\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-146911\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp_android_fingerprint_security_3_bqmhyb.jpg\" alt=\"whatsapp fingerprint options\" width=\"350\" height=\"476\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-146911\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image via: <a href=\"https:\/\/wabetainfo.com\/whatsapp-is-rolling-out-the-fingerprint-lock-feature-for-android-beta-users-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WABetaInfo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>4. Configure each setting and then test the feature works by closing it.<\/h5>\n<figure id=\"attachment_146912\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146912\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-146912\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp_android_fingerprint_security_4_rcecng.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-146912\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image via: <a href=\"https:\/\/wabetainfo.com\/whatsapp-is-rolling-out-the-fingerprint-lock-feature-for-android-beta-users-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WABetaInfo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The above steps will enable the WhatsApp Fingerprint lock when it lands on your version of WhatsApp for Android. The feature, however, doesn\u2019t actually add an extra layer of security to your WhatsApp chats, on top of the regular lock you have protecting your phone.<\/p>\n<p>The fingerprint data you use to lock your WhatsApp is actually the same fingerprint data you use to unlock your device. The WhatsApp fingerprint lock will be useful, however, if you ever pass your unlocked phone to somebody else but don\u2019t want them to be able to read your chats or listen to your voice messages.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-white\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-white__title\">More about WhatsApp<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"What is WhatsApp Vacation Mode? \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/whatsapp-vacation-mode-intro\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/whatsapp-192.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>What is WhatsApp Vacation Mode? \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"Inside WhatsApp's frequently forwarded message tabs \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/whatsapp-update-forwarding-audio\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2017\/10\/whatsapp-logo-192.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Inside WhatsApp's frequently forwarded message tabs \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"Improved Picture-in-Picture mode coming to WhatsApp \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/whatsapp-consecutive-voice-picture-in-picture\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/whatsapp-1-192.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Improved Picture-in-Picture mode coming to WhatsApp \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"How to add a contact to WhatsApp \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/add-contact-to-whatsapp\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/whatsapp-icon41.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>How to add a contact to WhatsApp \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WhatsApp has already started rolling out Fingerprint lock feature the members of the Android WhatsApp beta program<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9073,"featured_media":146915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[1082,2333,1040,1027,1043],"usertag":[790],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-146761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-android","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionwhatsapp","tag-messaging-apps","tag-security","tag-whatsapp","usertag-whatsapp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9073"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325575,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146761\/revisions\/325575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146761"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=146761"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=146761"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=146761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}