Messenger for iOS: Facebook tests the use of FaceID

Facebook tests Face ID or Touch ID authentication for Messenger for iOS users. The novelty could be extended to all users in the future.

Users of Facebook Messenger owners of an iOS device may soon have the ability to add a new level of security to conversations; on the platform thanks to the integration, now being tested at Facebook, with Touch ID is Face ID, Apple's authentication systems respectively by means of the fingerprint or the face of the users.

Today anyone with access to our smartphone can easily open the Facebook Messenger app and read our conversations, as happens with most iOS applications. Facebook's idea, on the other hand, is to allow users to use Touch ID or Face ID for unblock access to Facebook Messenger, and therefore to our conversations, so as to add an additional layer of protection.

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There are already many iOS applications that take advantage of Apple's authentication system, from Amazon to Google Drive, via Netflix, PayPal and the apps of the various banks and the Italian Post Office, but it is unusual for an instant messaging app to do this. It is true, however, that Messenger is increasingly used and many users use it as a primary system to keep in contact virtually with friends and family, so the private and confidential information that is exchanged on the platform is considerable.

Hence the idea of making the application a little more secure, so as to guarantee privacy as much as possible. You can decide to enable the authentication request with Touch ID or Face ID as soon as you close the Messenger app, but also after a minute, 15 minutes or an hour later.

Facebook specifies that after an initial test phase the idea is to extend the functionality to all iOS users and, in the future, to do the same with Android.