WhatsApp just made getting away with cheating easier and finding out your partner is cheating harder.
The messaging app owned by Meta is launching a “Chat Lock” feature that will allow users to keep their private conversations exactly that — private.
The locked chats will be in a protected folder that can only be accessed by passcode or biometrics, such as TouchID or FaceID.
Enabling the feature also means that notifications from these messages won’t appear on the notification screen, hiding the sender and actual message content.
While WhatsApp is known for its end-to-end encrypted message, users are joking that the new privacy feature has “upgraded” cheating.
“This is amazing and advanced. The doors of upgraded cheating has been introduced by Mark Zuckerberg,” one person remarked.
“That new chat lock feature on WhatsApp will make cheating partners’ life even simpler,” another wrote.
“Cheating just got easier with this WhatsApp ‘lock chat’ feature,” someone pointed out.
“So there’s a new WhatsApp feature where you can lock chats individually??” a user said. “These men are about to take cheating to a higher level. Mark Zuckerberg is not helping the relationship industry at all.”
“Lol WhatsApp allowing ppl to lock individual chats now. Wow. Tailored for cheating,” another tweeted.
Many people also put their opinions in the comments of Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook post about the feature.
“Very amazing. Thanks for keeping our relationships safe!” one person commented.
“Awesome, it’s great and useful for cheaters,” another quipped.
“This is so great and wonderful news,” someone wrote. “thanks Mr . Cheating has been upgraded.”
“Good luck and well done mr mark .this is the important feature for more and more divorces and love breakups,” another thanked Zuck.
“Thanks mark, I can now cheat in peace,” a user said.
“Mark working always to make unfaithful boys way less likely to be caught,” one joked.
In a blog post titled “Chat Lock: Making your most intimate conversations even more private,” Meta revealed that they’ll be adding additional options for the lock feature, such as locking on companion devices and creating unique chat-specific passwords rather than the one used for your phone.
“We think this feature will be great for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives,” Meta wrote in the blog.