Facebook lets you enable an extra layer of security supporting Face ID and Touch ID

The app itself can now be locked upon or shortly after closing, requiring you to use an authentication method like Face ID or Touch ID to open it back up.

Category:

Facebook today announced enhanced privacy and security features for Messenger on iOS, including a new “App Lock” feature. With this enabled, Facebook Messenger will require Face ID or Touch ID authentication before it is opened.

Here’s everything you need to know about this new privacy feature, including how to enable it on your mobile device.

The feature, which Facebook is calling App Lock, is part of a number of small changes coming to Messenger centered on privacy and security. The app is also adding a Privacy section to the app’s settings, giving users a single location to control features like App Lock and what users they’ve blocked. App Lock is supposed to come to Android in “the next few months.”

You can also set up your device to let you reply to locked notifications without providing an ID. For those overly paranoid about people checking their phone, they can lock it as soon as they’ve finished using the app.

“Your touch or face ID is not transmitted to or stored by Facebook. The feature is available today on iPhone and iPad and will come to Android in the next few months,”

 

Jay Sullivan, Director of Product Management, Messenger Privacy and Safety.

To turn the app lock on or off for Messenger:

iPhone and iPad

  1. Open the latest version of the Facebook Messenger app.
  2. Tap your profile picture in the top left.
  3. Tap Privacy > App Lock.
  4. Tap Require Face ID or Require Touch ID to turn on and off.
  5. Select when to lock Messenger after leaving the app.
  6. That will stop people from additionally snooping on your Messenger chats.

Android

App Lock is supposed to come to Android in “the next few months” – allowing Android users to lock their chats behind an authentication method.

Other features being currently tested:

The social network will test a feature similar to what exists on Instagram and WhatsApp that blurs images in the message requests folder.

This will give Messenger users the choice to view an image from someone they may not know before replying to the message or blocking or reporting the account.

Facebook Messenger is one of the leading messaging platforms in the US with more than 2 million monthly downloads. There are 1.3 billion Messenger users globally.

Categories:
Businessner editorial team
Businessner editorial teamhttps://businessner.com/
Businessner.com is a fast-growing business website with deep financial, media, tech, automotive, and other industry verticals.