WhatsApp is testing two-step authentication, background audio playback features

Earlier this year, WhatsApp made your chats more secure on its app with end-to-end encryption. Now the Facebook-owned company is looking into making it tougher for fraudsters to get hold of your account.

WhatsApp has begun testing two-factor authentication on its Android and Windows Phone clients. The feature, which provides users with an option to put an additional layer of security to the app, is now available on beta versions of WhatsApp for Android and Windows Phone.

Recent beta versions of WhatsApp for Android, dubbed v2.16.341 and above, have "Two-step verification" option in the account settings. When tapped, users are asked to enter a six-digit passcode and an email address to link with the account. Once activated, users are asked to enter the passcode when registering the phone number with WhatsApp on any other devices. WhatsApp Beta for Windows Phone (v2.16.280) also has this feature.

Security experts have long expressed need for two-step authentication feature on every service. The lack of two-step authentication (also known as two-factor authentication) has resulted in a potential security hole that has been exploited in the past by fraudsters to get hold of others' accounts.

The feature typically requires users to possess two separate ways to identify themselves. One is a hardware (in this case a SIM card), and the other, a code that you remember (in this case a passcode). Facebook Messenger, as well as rival apps Line and Telegram have had two-step authentication feature available for quite some time. Several of other services you use such as Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and LastPass also offer this feature.

But that's not all. WhatsApp is also testing a new feature that would allow users to listen to audio playback in background. If someone sends you an audio file, you will be able to continue listening to it even if you move on to another chat.