WhatsApp has been getting a lot of heat and losing users in recent weeks after announcing changes to how it uses your data. However now, the company is striving hard to get back its users’ trust. WhatsApp has now added biometric authentication for those using its web and desktop versions.
The new feature will let people add in a fingerprint, face, or iris scan to use WhatsApp on the desktop by linking it to your mobile app, to be used alongside the existing QR code authentication.
WhatsApp Web Brings Biometric Authentication for its Desktop Users
WhatsApp is describing this feature as a “visual refresh” and it is available on the WhatsApp web page on the Android and iOS apps for linking and managing devices connected to your account. It will appear for users before a desktop or web version can be linked up with a mobile app account. The next step is to choose the biometric authentication. It works similar to how you can choose to implement two steps of authentication on a handset to use the WhatsApp mobile app today.
The new feature will work with all iPhone devices operating iOS 14 and above with Touch ID or Face ID. Whereas, it will work on any Android device compatible with Biometric Authentication.
WhatsApp hints there will be more updates coming soon. The company is hopeful to add more features this year to bring the desktop and mobile experiences closer together. Possibly, WhatsApp lets us make calls through the web in the near future. We surely get more information in the coming weeks.