Facebook lets Messenger users secure apps with biometric authentication

Facebook is going to make it possible for Messenger users to lock the app with face or fingerprint recognition. The feature now works for iOS and iPadOS users and will come to Android later.

The tech company calls the feature App Lock and says the feature uses the phone’s privacy settings. When a user can unlock his or her phone with a fingerprint or face scan, the Messenger app uses the same data to unlock the app. Facebook emphasizes that this biometric data is not sent to Facebook and is not stored by the company.

According to the company, this feature allows users to lend their phone to someone, without fear of that person reading privacy-sensitive messages. The new feature can be found in the Privacy settings menu of the Messenger app. The feature is available in the iPhone and iPad app starting today. In the coming months, the feature should also come to Android devices. The arrival of this function has already been discovered.

Soon it should also be possible for users to have more control over their inbox and call conversations. Via new settings, users must be able to determine for themselves who can send or call the user messages, who ends up in the request folder and who can never call or send messages. These settings should resemble what is already possible with Instagram. Finally, Facebook is testing the blurring of images from an unknown user. That way, users can choose whether or not they want to see that image.