WhatsApp for iOS newly updated with a very interesting innovation in terms of security: support for passkeys, or rather passkeys. This function, which has been available on Android for several months, allows you to protect access to the account very simply and using something that we all always carry in our pocket: our mobile phone.

Let’s start from the beginning. Let’s do a mental exercise: Imagine you are going to log into WhatsApp, how will you do this? You open WhatsApp, enter your phone number, receive an SMS with a code, put it into the application and at work!, you are already inside. It is a system that has been with us throughout our lives and works, but it is not the safest.

Codes in SMS. Given that SMS isn’t the most secure messaging technology, getting a code via one of these text messages isn’t best practice either: If someone gains access to the code, they can log into your WhatsApp account (in fact, it’s a scam). that’s all there is to it). How do we solve this? Eliminate this step and that’s where toggle switches come into play.

No code or password. Passkeys are the technology that replaces traditional passwords. It can now be used across countless services, so instead of logging in by entering credentials, we do so using a trusted device. Let’s say we create a security key that we can use to log in to our mobile phone and unlock only with biometric identification (fingerprint, face…). Instead of entering a username and password, we scan the fingerprint on the mobile phone and that’s it, we log in.

What about WhatsApp? Exactly the same. Instead of entering a code we receive via SMS, we just need to activate passkeys and we can log in to WhatsApp using facial recognition, biometrics, or a PIN stored securely in Apple’s password system. In short, no more SMS. To enable it, simply do the following:

WhatsApp > Settings > Account > Passwords.

already on Android. Support for toggles on iOS is rolling out now and will reach all users in the next few weeks. Just make sure the app is updated. WhatsApp for Android already supports toggles and the way to enable them is the same.

Pictures | Xataka

in Xataka | Matrix is ​​the Mastodon of messaging like Slack or WhatsApp. And it is a decentralized protocol with great allies