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The popular messaging app WhatsApp appears to be preparing to add secure logins to its web app in the form of fingerprint authentication for Android users, according to an in-depth analysis of the latest beta version of the mobile app by the site of WABetaInfo code research.
The WhatsApp web companion is essentially a way for users to send and receive messages from their computer, and it has compatible applications for PC and Mac, as well as a browser version that works with any of the above-mentioned operating systems, as well as Google’s popular Chromebook line.
Users log into the companion app and link their account to their mobile app by scanning a QR code. After that, the messages sent to your WhatsApp account will appear both on your phone and on your desktop, when the latter is running.
When the new feature is available, the user will need to authenticate any new login to their account through the WhatsApp mobile application using the fingerprint sensor on their mobile device.
This is aimed at plugging a security hole for the Facebook-owned messaging service, as there is currently no way to guarantee that third parties cannot access your messages when using WhatsApp Web.
As 9to5Google reports, it is not yet clear whether the new feature will support Google’s Face Unlock facial recognition feature, although Android’s latest biometric API seems to allow this to be the case.
It should also be noted that Google did not include a fingerprint scanner in last year’s Pixel 4, although it has since returned with this year’s Pixel 4a and will likely be included in the Pixel 5 launching in the fall.
As this feature is still in beta, it is not yet known when it will reach the stable version of the Android application, which is how it would reach the vast majority of WhatsApp users.
WhatsApp previously added fingerprint security to its Android app in November of last year, about nine months after the feature was introduced for its iOS users.
Source: 9to5Google
