WhatsApp Lock-Screen Bug May Let Strangers Access Photos on Some Android Phones: What You Need to Know

Your Android phone may be locked, but your private photos could still be accessible through an incoming WhatsApp video call on some devices.

A reported WhatsApp behaviour suggests that someone with physical access to a locked Android phone could potentially open the device's photo gallery while answering an incoming WhatsApp video call. The issue does not appear to affect every Android handset, with the results reportedly varying by manufacturer.

Tests on multiple devices found that a Google Pixel 6 Pro and Oppo K13 allowed access to the full gallery from the lock screen. A Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, on the other hand, reportedly required a PIN or biometric authentication before displaying photos.

Interestingly, the Oppo and Samsung devices were both running Android 16, suggesting the difference could be linked to manufacturers' software implementations rather than the Android version itself.

How the WhatsApp Lock-Screen Issue Works

The reported method does not require malware, hacking tools or a remote attack. It requires someone to have physical access to the phone while an incoming WhatsApp video call is received.

The reported sequence is:

1. An incoming WhatsApp video call appears on the locked phone.
2. The person answers the call without unlocking the device.
3. They open WhatsApp's effects interface.
4. The interface provides access to filters, backgrounds and other options.
5. A Meta AI image option can reportedly lead to an Edit Photo button.
6. On affected devices, tapping it may open the phone's gallery without requiring authentication.

Although the rest of the phone remains locked, unrestricted gallery access could expose personal photos, screenshots, scanned documents and other sensitive images.

Why Android Phones Behave Differently

The differing results suggest that the behaviour may depend on how individual manufacturers handle lock-screen restrictions.

Android phone makers customise the operating system through software layers such as ColorOS, One UI and Pixel software. As a result, two phones running the same Android version can have different security behaviour when apps are used from the lock screen.

iPhones Don't Appear to Have the Same Issue

The reported route is not available in the same way on iPhones because WhatsApp calls use Apple's CallKit framework.

When an iPhone is locked, incoming WhatsApp calls are presented through Apple's system calling interface rather than WhatsApp's full in-call interface. This prevents users from accessing the same WhatsApp effects panel before unlocking the device.

How to Protect Your Photos on Android

If you are concerned about this behaviour, restricting WhatsApp's photo permissions can provide an additional layer of protection.

Go to:

Settings → Apps → WhatsApp → Permissions → Photos and videos

Depending on your phone, choose Select photos and videos, Limited access or the equivalent option instead of allowing access to all photos.

You can then select only the images and videos WhatsApp needs to access.

There is currently no universal fix mentioned in the reports. Since the behaviour varies between Android manufacturers, users should check their own device's lock-screen behaviour and avoid giving WhatsApp unrestricted access to their entire photo library where possible.