Ahead of Apple’s RCS update, WhatsApp has just given iMessage and Google Messages users frustrated with their clunky, cross-platform messaging a great reason to switch…
WhatsApp remains my pick as the go-to secure messenger for its billions of users. It takes credit for making cross-platform, end-to-end encryption available to everyone, and despite its Meta masters, it has maintained a sensible balance between privacy and accessibility.
In the last week WhatsApp has been caught up in the “dangerous” claims being made by rival Telegram about the encryption protocol that it uses. Telegram’s target was actually the uber-secure messenger Signal, but WhatsApp uses Signal’s protocol—as do many others, and so risked being tainted.
But WhatsApp’s security can be trusted—there are no credible claims about transmission or “man-in-the-middle” interception. The risk remains endpoint compromise. Put simply, if someone takes control of your device or tricks you into surrounding access to your WhatsApp account, then all bets are off.
WhatsApp’s laudable approach to security and privacy innovation is on display again this week, with the news that its clever locked chat feature is coming to linked devices as first trailed last month.
WhatsApp’s “locked chats” feature can be enabled from a primacy device, and adds an extra layer of security to those messages you’d rather keep extra secret. We all know the kind. Those chats are stored in a separate folder and need to be separately unlocked. it means your kids (or partner, maybe) won’t accidentally stumble across something they shouldn’t when playing with your phone.
Now, as reported by WABetaInfo, a gap in that locked chat feature is about to be plugged, extending the ability to lock chats from just the primary device to linked devices as well. “It appears that WhatsApp is finally in the testing phase of this feature with select users, hinting at a wider release scheduled in the coming weeks.” The secret code itself, though, still needs to be set up on the primary device. That same passcode is synchronized across all devices on the account.
“We believe,” WABetaInfo says, “that implementing this feature on linked devices will further enhance both privacy and user convenience. By allowing users to separate their protected conversations from the chats list, WhatsApp ensures a high level of confidentiality, reducing the risk of accidental exposure. In addition, locked chats are consistently synchronized across all devices by setting up a secret code. With the introduction of locked chats support for linked devices, users can be confident that their sensitive conversations always remain hidden from prying eyes across all their mobile devices.”
The means that WhatsApp’s current warning, that “when you turn on chat lock from your phone, it will lock chats on that phone only. If you have other devices linked to WhatsApp, such as a desktop computer, the chats on those linked devices won’t be locked,” will fall away post this rollout.
This is just the latest WhatsApp update that’s sets the 3-billion-user messenger further apart from its rivals, especially Apple’s iMessage and Google’s Messages ahead of the RCS unification expected this fall. The level of cross-platform security and privacy that WhatsApp now offers can’t be matched by any of the other hyper-scale platforms, especially not Telegram—despite those recent claims.
While the RCS linkage between Apple and Google will at least resolve the archaic SMS feature-set that currently holds back their cross-platform message offering, it will not offer end-to-end encryption between ecosystems. For that you will need WhatsApp or another over-the-top.
This latest expansion of its locked chat feature is important because it shows WhatsApp continuing to promote privacy and security innovation as well as populist features such bubble colors and stickers.
The update is in beta now, with no firm date on when it will be made publicly available.
