Earlier this year we saw the fingerprint authentication feature in the IOS devices around the month of February. Before that the WABetainfo gave us a hint regarding the fingerprint authentication feature being introduced in android devices as well in its 2.19.3 beta update. It also stated that its possible to use device credentials if the whatsapp feature doesn’t recognize your fingerprint.
Now after that tease, finally we have received an update on
the same features. According to WABetainfo whatsapp released an update after
its 2.19.82 version which has this feature with increased quality in the UI.
This feature is by default disabled and to enable it you need to go through
some simple steps.
WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy > Use fingerprint to unlock.
After this it will ask you to input your fingerprint in the system much like the android lock feature. There is another feature which comes with this new update, its to configure the time period after which the app should lock. It is termed as Automatically Lock.
With this new feature whatsapp is becoming a more and more technically
and independent strong application and there seems to be a bright future for it
in this era.
How does Fingerprint Authentication work?
Every human has a different pattern on their fingers just as every human has different DNA. This particular feature of humans has been used in many areas to recognize individuals. If you have noticed closely our fingers have various types of lines in a specific pattern. These lines form a rough surface which is not completely plain and thus has valleys and ridges. Valley is the protruding area or the line and ridge is the area between those lines. The fingerprint scanners make use of this and forms an image of the valleys and ridges of a finger. Every finger has a different pattern and thus it is not easy to dupe these scanners. Now when we put our finger on the scanner it again makes the image and compares it with the previously stored image of the finger and if its match rate is more than 96% the device will give us the authority.
