Last fall, WhatsApp, a highly popular messaging application owned by Facebook, introduced a two-factor verification feature, although the added layer of security was only accessible to Android and Windows beta builds of the app, with no apparent public release in sight.
WhatsApp Pushes For Wide Release Of Two-Step Verification
That, however, changes now. WhatsApp is officially set to do away with the feature's beta exclusivity and finally release a two-factor verification feature to each of its 1.2 billion users on iOS, Android, and even Windows phones.
Have WhatsApp installed? Expect the feature any day now, The Next Web reports, although it may require you to update the app before you can take advantage of added security layer. Anyhow, the important thing is that WhatsApp is relegating it as a beta feature no longer.
What Is Two-Step Verification?
For the uninitiated, two-step verification is a very simple yet very necessary verification process certain apps, such as some of Google's, employ in order to foolproof their services and protect personal data from being accessed by malignant hackers trying to get into accounts. The verification entails, as the name suggests, two steps: the first step requires users to type their password, and the second step can range from a handful of possibilities, such as a code that'll be sent to the user's phone after the first step is accomplished.
For WhatsApp, the first verification step comes from using the app on mobile, and the second step entails a six-digit passcode users can create after enabling the feature.
How To Enable Two-Step Verification On WhatsApp
To take advantage of the feature, update WhatsApp, hit the settings menu, tap Account, choose Two-step verification, and hit Enable.
All WhatsApp users who have the new verification process enabled will be required to log in to the app every seven days, which is a much more welcome pace than having to enter the code repeatedly each time the user opens the app. Weekly log-ins are much more palatable, and it should prevent WhatsApp users from seeing the feature as a nuisance, thereby preventing them from turning it off altogether.
Other WhatsApp News
In other WhatsApp-related news, the messaging service recently added a bunch of new emoji, first unveiled on iOS 10.2 and Android 7.1 Nougat, after gaining the approval of the Unicode Committee in 2016.
WhatsApp is available as a free download on iOS, Android, and Windows. There are also desktop app versions available for Mac and PC from WhatsApp's site. If you're using the app already, you should know how to limit data use, clear memory, and how to do a bunch of other tips and tricks, which Tech Times consolidated in a handy article.
There's been recent accusations targeted at WhatsApp about its purported backdoor vulnerability, as claimed by publication The Guardian. Security experts, however, were quick to discount the report's claims, with one such expert calling it "ridiculous." WhatsApp already retorted by calling the claims as false.
Have you updated WhatsApp to its latest version? Have you tried setting up the two-step verification feature? Feel free to tell us your experience so far. As always, you're encouraged to sound off in the comments section below!
