WhatsApp perfect cheating feature

[DonnyBurrito]

I've mentioned this on a different thread, as the OP (with a cheating husband) had suggested that his WhatsApp was easier to check for ilicit messages than Snapchat, because SC has disappearing messages (although WhatsApp also has this feature, it's just very conspicuous and takes a bit longer for them to disappear I think).
But WhatsApp has an even better feature than disappearing messages for cheaters called 'Chat lock'. I told my fairly tech savvy friend about this recently and she was shocked when I showed her how it worked, and she didn't know about it at all. I'm wondering how many other radars it's gone under.

Chat lock can create a secret folder for messages which is not visible in the app anywhere at all, and whether the feature is being used or not is not shown either. It is password protected or biometrics. You type the password into the search bar at the top of WhatsApp and a little icon with a lock appears, it unclicks, and you tap on it to enter the secret folder.

As I say, there's no way of knowing whether this feature is being used if it's been hidden, and if you try to change the password in the settings to get into the folder, then all the chats get deleted anyway. The only way to make the folder appear is by knowing the password... Which, if the user is clever, will be a long string/pattern of every day emojis that won't look out of place in the recently used emojis.

The only way I've figured to see if the features being used is if the contact that's been hidden is saved in the phone. If you go to the phones contacts, find the contact you're suspicious about, and click 'message on WhatsApp' - it will show that the chat is locked and will ask for a password. So you could get proof that something is being hidden between two people, just not exactly what it is. That only works for numbers that are saved, though.

Anyways, have a look for yourselves if you don't know about it, you'll find it in WhatsApp settings.

Explains why my cheating bastard of an ex eventually let me see his phone! Thanks

My locked chats are still visible within the WhatsApp app itself. It’s just higher up above ‘archived’, if you pull down it will show. Not that that helps anyone trying to get proof of cheating!

iPhone also has a ‘hidden’ apps setting, so dating apps etc can be hidden and password protected. You can’t see them on the home screens or any app lists. The only way you can find the hidden folder is to swipe right through and then you’d still need biometrics or password to see what is even in the hidden folder.

You can completely hide that, though! It's a setting within the locked chat folder itself.

I know there's also other apps disguised as something else like 'calculator' but there's an option for two passwords, one password will show an empty folder or innocent things, and another password for where the real stuff is hidden. So if someone was asked to open it and they said okay fine I've got nothing to hide, they could just put the decoy password in. So sneaky.

Someone who will want to cheat will cheat.

WhatsApp's locked chats don't make make anyone cheat.

You do realise that ever since computers came into being (and a phone is just a small computer) there have been ways of hiding stuff?

I use it all the time as it’s the only way I can fully ignore a chat. If I archive it I still see that I have a message, and if I mute it it still shows up in chats. I wanted a feature like Facebook where you can fully ignore and not see anything without blocking, eg work people contacting when on holiday etc

If you pull down from top it appears on top of archived messages.

Not if you hide it. There's an option to completely hide the folder.

It's also a really useful feature for prople who are being abused by their spouses.

Cheaters are going to cheat, it doesn't matter what technology is available to them

I'm pointing out a feature which either isn't known about or isn't completely understood by a fair few people (proved already by those who have replied not knowing you can completely hide the folder via the settings) on an app which almost everyone uses.

If someone's partner is accessing Tor regularly, or has any other app installed which is designed to hide things, then that might be quite suspicious. But WhatsApp is fairly innocuous, and if people don't know about how well hidden this feature can really be, they may miss something important and think all is well.

Sorry you didn't find it interesting.

And isn't it good to be aware of all the readily available channels there are when the gaslighting begins?

TBH it’s no different really to having a separate gmail account for affair partner’s emails that no-one else knows about is it…

I'd say it's a lot less faffy and lot less likely to be found than trying to keep an email account separate and secret. WhatsApp's just a better way to communicate in general, too, so more appealing overall as you can video call, phone call, send voice notes, send photos and videos, have more immediate chats/sexting on WhatsApp, etc... I'm 34 and emails aren't really used for personal communication in my demographic anymore, let alone for cheating.

This

I cheated, just used Kik and telegram like many do.

When you realize that phones can have entire hidden apps and folders with images etc your mind is going to be blown 🤣

As already said, tech doesn't make people cheat and if they are,then the relationship is over anyway, hidden WhatsApp chats or not

I'm honestly not seeing the relevance of this at all 🤣 I'm just making people aware of the details of a very clever feature on a well known app that pretty much everybody uses.

And, is that even true? I'm not sure to be honest, now you've made me think about it. I think some people would cheat if they could be absolutely certain they wouldn't get caught, and with an easily accessible feature like this on an innocent and inconspicuous app, it's made very easy for 'moments of weakness'.

This post was for people who might be suspicious of their partners cheating, but can't seem to find evidence that they're sure is there.

If your relationship has got to the point where you have to check someone's messages it's over anyway.

Did you get caught? My friend found her husband logging into Kik, and was immediately suspicious.

And believe me, I know about apps and hidden folders 🤣💀 I've used them plenty myself.

The thing with these apps, and Kik, Snapchat, etc, is that they're obvious. They're specifically used for secrecy, and look dodgy. And if you're not a total tech n00b, those fake storage apps stick out like a sore thumb.

Having WhatsApp in and of itself is not suspicious. And unless someone has a hidden contact saved in their phone, there's no way to know whether the locked chats being used.

I'm actually one of those people. The only reason I'm unwilling to cheat on DP is because it would hurt her, and I'm unwilling to hurt her. If there was a way I could guarantee I wouldn't ever be found out, then I'd happily cheat. But that's impossible, because there's always a chance she'll find out, no matter how careful I am. So I don't cheat.

A hidden Whatsapp folder isn't going to change that. My phone is already passworded, and DP doesn't know it. She can't get into my phone at all, let alone my messages.

People in abusive relationships on the other hand, often aren't allowed a password on their phone for fear of the consequences from their spouse. So something like this is invaluable for them

This would have been really useful when my paranoid ex was convinced I was cheating and insisted on going through my phone at least once a week.

Snooping is wrong. You either trust them or you don't. I know my DH's password (because I needed it one time to help navigate in the car) but have never used it. He doesn't know mine and he's not going to.

Why would you happily cheat?

Yeah, that's awful 😔 really claustrophobic not being trusted when you have done nothing wrong.

However I think cheating is worse than snooping, and very rarely do cheaters admit what they're up to. They tend to gaslight their partners, tell them it's all in their heads, lull them into a false sense of security, etc... and features like these make it even easier to do so.

If you asked my ex he'd tell you I was cheating but wouldn't admit it. Told me if I'd nothing to hide I shouldn't make such a 'big deal' about it. I changed the password and kept it on me after the first few times I caught him snooping, which just lead him to believe I was cheating even more. He was absolutely convinced I was either cheating or on the verge of it. I don't think its a good enough reason to invade the privacy of someone you claim you love. Yet there are threads on here about snooping which will tell it's absolutely vital that you do snoop. That's it's okay as long as you've made up your mind that they've cheated. Sorry but I won't budge. It's wrong.

@VimesandhisCardboardBoots Why would you happily cheat? I’m genuinely interested as you are coming at this from a different angle to me which is interesting.

My take is this - My husband is annoying at times but he has nothing to do with whether I’m faithful or not. I’m faithful for me. I stood in front of family and friends and said vows willingly - one of which was being faithful. So I am faithful for me. Because my words matter to me. I want to be honest. And I want to look at myself in the mirror each day and like who I see. My husband is not powerful enough to make me faithful or unfaithful. He can’t make me do anything. I am faithful for me. He’s my colateral damage.

If I was faithful for him, then I could twist my thoughts and say if he does x I’m faithful and if he does y I’m unfaithful. Thus making him have power over my actions - which, to me, is nonsense.

Because I enjoy sex and don't inherently believe that having sex with some other than my partner is wrong.

Different people have different moral codes. For instance, I believe murder is wrong. Even if the person I was murdering actively wanted me to murder them, then I'd still consider the act itself to be wrong.

On the other hand, if DP was actively encouraging me to shag someone else, then I'd happily do it. So I don't consider that act wrong. I do however think hurting DP is wrong. So what's stopping me from cheating isn't that I believe cheating is wrong, it's that hurting DP is wrong.

So in a hypothetical situation where DP could never ever find out, then I'd be fine with cheating. What stops me is that I'm not stupid enough to believe that situation is possible.