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WhatsApp Adds New Privacy Feature To Lock Sensitive Chats
The new setting lets users add conversations to biometrically locked folders and hide them from notifications.
WhatsApp has announced a new feature via its blog called “Chat Lock” that allows users to make their conversations more private. The tool can lock any conversation, placing it in a specialized folder accessible via fingerprint or face scanning biometrics or by entering a regular password. In addition, the new feature also hides references to locked chats from notification feeds.
To lock an existing conversation, users simply need to tap on the title of a person or group chat and select the lock option. When you want to read a locked chat, you’ll need to use your device’s biometric scanner to unlock it, or else enter a password.
WhatsApp notes that the feature is useful for keeping a chat private when “someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives” and advises that the entire app can also be locked using biometric security.
Also Read: Saudi-Based Mozn Uses AI To Detect Money Laundering & Fraud
WhatsApp owners Meta have been upgrading the platform for some time now, in a bid to convince users of the app’s safety as more and more people turn to rivals such as Signal and Telegram. Meta recently upgraded WhatsApp’s verification system to deter hackers and has added additional features, including disappearing messages.
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Noon And Yango Switch On Robot Deliveries In Dubai
The rollout folds autonomous couriers into noon’s rapid-delivery network as the UAE tests everyday autonomy.
Noon and Yango Group have signed an agreement to put autonomous robot deliveries into commercial use in Dubai, turning Yango’s earlier pilots into a daily service for noon Minutes orders. The launch in Sobha Hartland is the first full integration of Yango Autonomy’s electric robots with a major e-commerce network in the region, with wider deployment planned across Dubai and, later, other GCC markets.
Residents can choose a robot at checkout, track it in the app and unlock its compartment once it arrives. The hardware runs on Yango’s AI navigation and routing stack, which plans paths, avoids obstacles and yields to pedestrians. The units had already covered more than 1,500 kilometers during previous Dubai pilots, a test bed that demonstrated their ability to operate in mixed pedestrian environments and dense residential streets.
The rollout adds a contactless option to noon’s last-mile network and is positioned as extra capacity during peak periods. “Partnering with Yango Group lets us bring a future-ready delivery option straight to our customers,” said Ali Kafil-Hussain, noon’s Chief Business Officer. Noon has used Minutes to set rapid-delivery expectations in UAE cities; autonomous units now slot into that same high-frequency model.
Regulatory clearance from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority underpins the move. The RTA authorized Yango’s robots to operate on public walkways and in neighborhoods, smoothing the shift from controlled trials to commercial work. Dubai has framed autonomous mobility as part of its smart-city buildout, and the partners lean on that agenda to accelerate integration.
Also Read: Uber And WeRide Roll Out Driverless Robotaxis In Abu Dhabi
For Yango, the partnership is an anchor for its autonomy platform in the Gulf. Islam Abdul Karim, Yango’s Middle East regional head, said the aim is to make autonomous delivery an “everyday, reliable service” for UAE communities. The company views operational data from early districts as the basis for scaling into more communities and, eventually, cross-border rollouts.
The move lands as Gulf retailers search for faster fulfilment and lower-emission logistics. Autonomous couriers remain a small share of last-mile delivery, but Dubai’s approvals and early usage data give the partners a clearer path to turn pilots into durable infrastructure.
