WhatsApp is making logins safer for iPhones with support for passkeys

One of the key areas WhatsApp has been focusing its efforts in recent years is privacy and security. Since the popular instant messaging app added support for end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp has also added several other privacy-oriented features, including the ability to protect your IP address during calls.

Now, the app is reportedly working on adding support for passkeys, making logins to the app more secure without being overly complicated. A new WABetaInfo report reveals that the newest beta version of WhatsApp for iPhones comes with support for passkeys, suggesting that the feature is not far away from a wider release. Here’s everything you need to know.

What are passkeys?

Passkeys are a newer, more secure layer of protection that eliminate the need for passwords and two-factor-authentication. Both these methods, while effective, are also prone to attacks. Passwords may be guessed (or brute-forced), while two-factor-authentication methods are easy to work around if your phone gets stolen.

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Passkeys instead use elements like hardware-level matching and biometrics to ensure secure logins. These methods are much more difficult to crack and offer significantly more protection. Biometrics, like fingerprint-scanners or facial recognition, even make the process easy and seamless, as opposed to remembering complex passwords.

How will this affect WhatsApp usage?

With passkey support, WhatsApp will be easier to log into. This is because the app will require biometric authentication. For iPhone users, this basically means that you will be able to login to WhatsApp during a fresh install or a reinstall using just a FaceID scan (TouchID for older iPhones).

What’s even better is that the feature will prevent unauthorised logins. Even if someone were to get access to your phone number, they will not be able to login without the layer of biometric security that’s bonded to the account.

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Currently, the feature is only getting started on WhatsApp beta for iOS version 24.2.10.73, and it will likely be a couple of months before the feature lands on stable versions. A version of the feature was already released for beta WhatsApp users on Android phones earlier this year.

The bottom line is, it’s great to see WhatsApp adopting newer, better methods to securing account information, and we wish more services and social media apps would take similar initiatives.