Tools and requirements
● Android smartphone
● WhatsApp account
● Internet connection
Passkey security continues to spread across the industry, as WhatsApp implements the technology in its mobile app on Android.
There’s been a lot of hype around passkeys, with major companies like Apple and Google adding passkey support to their products. Its main selling point is that it provides a faster way to sign in to personal accounts, while making it difficult for malicious parties to compromise your phone or computer. This is done with the help of her PIN or biometrics that is unique to the device. Ideally, this effectively eliminates the need for traditional passwords.
WhatsApp made an announcement on X (The platform formerly known as Twitter) Revealing a passkey on your app allows users to unlock their account using either their face, fingerprint, or PIN. This patch is currently rolling out to Android users. I managed to get the update, so I’ll show you how to set it up. If you don’t see the patch on your phone, be sure to keep an eye on it when it arrives.
Easy steps on how to set a passkey on WhatsApp
- Launch WhatsApp
- Go to account settings
- Passkey selection
- Create your favorite passkey
A detailed step-by-step guide on how to create a passkey on WhatsApp
- Launch WhatsApp on your Android smartphone and tap the profile icon in the top right corner to open the settings menu. Select “Account” and then “Passkey”.
- On the next page, tap the Create Passkey button. A window will appear from the bottom informing you that WhatsApp will use your information.
- You’ll see an option to connect your phone’s screen lock to allow WhatsApp to use the PIN or password you’ve already set. This guide will enable this.
- You will then be asked to create a passkey using your PIN or fingerprint.. Selecting PIN will set WhatsApp to use your unique code if your device has one. If not, you will need to create one yourself.
- Once you select Fingerprint, your phone will ask you if you want to connect biometric security to the app. If your phone already has a fingerprint set up, the process will be quick.
- Once completed, you will have the option to revoke your first passkey and create a new one. In that case, the process will be the same as before.
According to WhatsApp, the phone we used is a OnePlus Nord N20 5G, and facial recognition is optional but not supported. Android Police reveals in its report that swipe patterns can also be used and the information will be stored in Google Password Manager for safety. Please note that the WhatsApp passkey is optional. In addition to traditional passwords, chat lock still exists.
It’s unclear whether this patch will be available for iOS or desktop versions of WhatsApp, but we’ve reached out to Meta for more information. This story will be updated at a later date.