Facebook now lets you add an extra layer of security when opening Messenger on an iPhone or iPad. 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. That means you could unlock your phone and let a friend borrow it, and that person still wouldn’t be able to access your Messenger chats.
Facebook notes the features are similar to those offered by Instagram, which added more fine-grained controls for messaging in December. Messenger will also experiment with a feature that automatically blurs images sent by users who aren’t already your Facebook friend presumably because these are more likely to be spammy or otherwise inappropriate.
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.”
The feature is available now on iOS, and will be “coming soon” to Android.
