How to protect WhatsApp by blocking access with PIN or password

WhatsApp Messenger is the world’s most popular cross-platform instant messaging application for smartphones, effectively replacing any traditional fast chat system. In addition to text messages, users can send each other images, GIFs, videos and audio messages to each other for free, all for free and without limits. Being so used and containing chats and private information, we will have to make it safe and invisible to anyone who can pick up the cell phone.

In this guide we will in fact show you all the legitimate methods for protect WhatsApp by blocking access with a password. In this way we can leave the phone unattended for a short period or show a video to a friend, confident that he will not be able to read our messages or, worse still, answer for us.

READ ALSO: How to hide invisible on Whatsapp on iPhone and Android

How to protect WhatsApp

The methods we are about to show you are valid both for those who want to block WhatsApp with the system settings and for those who want to block WhatsApp using the settings offered by the messaging app itself, so that you can choose which one to apply from time to time.

Internal blocking of WhatsApp

In the latest updates of the WhatsApp app it is possible to protect access with a password without having to look for options in the phone settings and without installing any app. The best option is the one that allows you to unlock Whatsapp with fingerprint recognition. This option is found in the menu Settings, take us in Account -> Privacy and press on the menu Fingerprint lock, so you can activate the switch on the button Unlock with fingerprint.

Once the fingerprint associated with the phone has been registered on Whatsapp, we can immediately benefit from this form of protection; immediately after activation we will be able to choose after how long to block WhatsApp between Immediately, After 1 minute O After 30 minutes and we will also be able to choose whether or not to show the content of the notifications, so as to obtain a very high level of privacy.

Your iPhone the system adapts according to the device in use: we can use both Face ID (facial recognition on the most recent iPhones) and Touch ID (fingerprint sensor on older iPhones).

Alternatively or in addition to fingerprint protection, you can make theWhatsapp account safer by activating two-step verification. In fact, a Whatsapp access PIN is created which is added to the fingerprint (unlike the fingerprint, the PIN is not always requested, but only after a restart of the phone or a change of phone).

How to protect WhatsApp on Android

If we have an Android device we can check if our system already has an integrated app protection system, so as not to have to install any third-party apps or use the internal WhatsApp method. We then open the app Settings O Safety (if present) and let’s see if it is possible to block access to a specific app, in our case to WhatsApp. For example on Xiaomi devices there is just the menu item App lock, accessible from Settings.
We click on this entry to open the list of apps compatible with password lock, then make sure that the WhatsApp app is selected.

We just have to click on Set your password below and choose the new password for logging into the messaging app.
From now on we will have to type the password every time we open WhatsApp and, thanks to the integrated features of the system, the notifications will be “anonymous” (we will not see the preview in the top bar).
If we do not have an integrated locking system or we want a higher level of protection, we can focus on a free app like App Lock, offered by Smart Mobile Tools.

This app allows you to block the other apps in the system thanks to the integration with the administration permissions and remaining in memory, so as to effectively protect the apps that we are going to insert in its list.
The peculiarity of this app is that it allows you to use a password, a lock path, the fingerprint to access the app for locking: a very high level of security!

Alternatively we can use the LOCKit app, available for free on any Android device.

With this app we will be able to set an unlock path or a simple password to hide access to our apps (including WhatsApp), but we can also block the gallery with images and videos, so as not to necessarily show ours shots or videos that we have made or that we receive via chat.
To test other similar apps, we invite you to read our guide to App to block the opening of applications on Android.

How to protect WhatsApp on iPhone

On iPhone, in addition to the integrated method within WhatsApp, we can take advantage of the functionality Restrictions for minors to effectively protect WhatsApp from unwanted glances. First let’s open the app Settings, click Usage time then we click Use “Usage Time” code.
We choose a 4-digit PIN and enter it twice to make it effective; in the previous screen let’s go to App limitations, enter the PIN chosen earlier, then click Add usage limitation.

In the new screen we click on Social network, then on Forward; here we will be asked to set a usage limit time for the apps of the category, let’s set it to 0 hours and 1 min and make sure that the voice is active Freeze when the limit expires; all that remains is to click on the top add.

From now on we will be able to access WhatsApp (and other chat and social apps included in the category, such as Facebook, Twitter or Telegram) unlimited for just one minute a day, after that we will always be asked for the PIN to be able to continue using it!
All we have to do is leave WhatsApp open for a minute in our hands every day; after the time limit we click on the item that will appear on the lock screen, that is Request more time, and enter the PIN, so the app will be accessible again for the period of time that we are going to assign on the spot (at least 15 minutes, so watch out who can pick up our device in this time frame).
An apparently meager method (and designed for quite another thing, that is to limit the use of apps by minors), but very effective to protect WhatsApp by blocking access with a password when we use a latest generation iPhone.
There are compromises to make, but it is definitely the safest way to protect our privacy when we use WhatsApp.

Conclusions

Keeping curious glances away from our WhatsApp account is very simple, since the same app offers an effective access control system that also allows you to hide the content of notifications. If the integrated block is not enough, we can take advantage of both the methods integrated into the operating systems and the dedicated apps (on Android).

If we want to hide and make ourselves invisible on WhatsApp, we can continue reading in the guide How to hide invisible on Whatsapp on iPhone and Android.
Are we looking for an effective way to protect ourselves from those who want to spy on our WhatsApp account? Let’s see how to do it in the article Can you spy on Whatsapp? How to protect chats and messages.