To give users more options to strengthen their privacy, WhatsApp added the ability to lock its messaging app with a password, fingerprint or Face ID. You can learn how to enable fingerprint lock for WhatsApp on Android here. But if you think this is a hassle, you're in luck. WhatsApp is building on this feature to soon let you lock individual chats instead of the app. Check out all the details on how this feature will work:

Spotted by reputable WhatsApp tipster WABetaInfo in the latest Android beta update, WhatsApp is working on a new "chat lock" feature. As the name reveals, this feature will help keep your personal chats "locked and hidden" from prying eyes. The feature description in the screenshot below reveals that you will be able to use your fingerprint or a password to open locked chats and read notifications.

Also, just like archived chats in WhatsApp, these locked chats will be moved to a separate section and accessible through the same. We can see this dedicated "Locked Chats" section in the screenshot on the right. This feature will be available for both personal chats and group chats. It will hide not only your messages but also keep your media files private. Photos, videos or audio that you send in locked chats are not automatically saved in the device gallery, further increasing your privacy.

Furthermore, WABetaInfo points out a strange thing with the "Chat Lock" feature in WhatsApp. They say, "If someone tries to access your phone and fails to provide the required authentication, they will be prompted to clear the chat to open it." This means that you can lose your chat history if someone tries to forcefully bypass your locked chat. Now note that this feature is not active yet; not even on the beta versions. This feature is still under development and should be available for testing on WhatsApp beta for Android and iOS soon.