Blackberry android phones have a feature where it notifies you when any app accessed some resource that requires OS level permissions, such as contacts, gps, etc.
Whatsapp and other facebook apps, access my contact list every 3 minutes.
Whatsapp and other facebook apps, access my contact list every 3 minutes.
Even the 3 minute delay is annoying - it's common I meet someone, add them to my phone, and then want to send them a Whatsapp message and they don't appear in the list. I have to awkwardly hang around for a minute or so before being able to send them the message I wanted to send.
(for context, in most of Europe, Whatsapp is used pretty much like iMessage or SMS is used in the USA - wouldn't it be annoying not to be able to SMS a new phone number without waiting 3 minutes?)
WhatsApp used to function like that, too; you just added a new number in the UI. That was until FB decided that syphoning Contact info was lucrative. On my phones WhatsApp is still denied Contacts permissions and it works fine.
I know it is now too late for me as FB already have my contact list, but will do (and advertise) that for now on.