CHEATERS will always look for clever ways to hide their tracks – and WhatsApp has a treasure trove of features that enable them.
While tools for greater privacy are a good thing, they’re easily open to abuse by love rats.
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Many of these features exist in plain sight, so much so any cheating partner need not worry at all that you might stumble on flirty conversations if you have access to their phone.
As someone who has suffered from cyber cheating – and The Sun’s Assistant Technology and Science Editor – I know the ins and outs around apps.
In fact, I caught an ex using a dating app that was disguised as a calculator.
While you shouldn’t go snooping on someone else’s phone, it’s helpful to know these sorts of tools exist and just how far they can go.
Secret code unlocks hidden chats
WhatsApp has a way to hide sensitive conversations from the list of chats entirely.
And the only way you can unlock them is with a top secret code.
You can conceal them in a special folder known as locked chats.
From there, you can set a secret code that’s different from your phone’s passcode.
Only by typing the code in the search bar at the top of WhatsApp will the hidden chats magically appear before your eyes.
SECRETS BEHIND THE HIDDEN CALCULATOR APP
By Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor
After a number of suspicious incidents I did some digging on my partner’s iPhone a few years ago, despite the risk.
It’s not something I’m proud of but sometimes you have to trust your gut.
I had heard that some dating apps allow you to disguise the icon as a calculator.
What a genius idea – no one would think to tap on an innocent, boring calculator icon.
So, I took the plunge and sure enough there was a fake calculator which opened up a dizzying number of saucy messages and unspeakable pics.
Read more here.
Disappearing messages
Disappearing messages became a thing thanks to Snapchat but people often forget you can add them on WhatsApp as well.
And what’s more curious, is you can add them onto individual chats.
There can be perfectly legitimate reasons why a person has them on – sometimes you don’t want old chats used against you.
It also helps save storage having it switched on by not saving all your lengthy chats.
But disappearing messages can also serve as a red flag too.
The feature is set with a timer of 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.
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Muted notifications
Notifications are annoying at the worst of times and thankfully there is a way to mute them from certain conversations.
I’ve found this particularly handy for pesky family group chats that seem to buzz all too often.
But muted notifications can also be a sign of someone not wanting you to see chat alerts from specific people.
You can actually see if a person has notifications muted for them by looking for the little bell icon on the right side of their name.
Sometimes, people also go a step further and hide these muted chats in the archive folder too – this means the conversation will be hidden from the main chat list and won’t cause any alerts to pop up on the phone too.
Advanced chat privacy
WhatsApp also has an advanced chat privacy option that goes a step further.
Crucially, when switched on it won’t save any pictures or videos you receive from that individual to your phone’s main gallery.
This stops anyone looking through your general photos app from stumbling across anything embarrassing.
BONUS TIP: FAKE NAMES?
Cheaters may also go down the old fashioned route of changing a contact details to a fake name to throw people off the scent.
However, if you add any suspicious numbers to another WhatsApp account this will give away the person’s actual WhatsApp name.
Image credit: Getty
Hiding the WhatsApp icon
It’s one thing to hide individual chats but what about keeping the WhatsApp app itself out of sight?
On many phones you can remove the app icon and make out you simply don’t use WhatsApp.
On iPhone, you can tap and hold any app, then select Require Face ID from the menu that appears – it’s here when you’ll find the Hide and Require Face ID option.
However, there are some clues that an app or apps are being concealed.
Firstly, to access them you need to go to the bottom of the app library section where there is a hidden folder listed – you can’t see the contents but you know something is hiding in there.
Apps will also still be listed in places like settings.
Android has it’s own version of this called private space, which can be set-up in the security & privacy settings.
WHATSAPP WEB LOOPHOLE
While you can lock people out of WhatsApp on a mobile, few remember that you need to set it up separately for WhatsApp Web.
This means, if the phone is already assigned to a laptop anyone can just visit WhatsApp Web and gain access to messages without any PIN or Face ID blocking them.
Image credit: Getty
Top image credit: Getty / The Sun
