Last I tried WhatsApp it refused to let me use it without giving it access to my entire contact list. Even when “giving it access” to a blank list via PrivacyGuard, I couldn’t see a way to add a contact manually. That was a deal breaker for me.
There's zero technical reason why I can't have a silo'd list of contacts WITHIN WhatsApp. Facebook knows it. Fuck them.
I am dismayed to find that my new Android phone no longer has this feature, except as part of some bullshit "work profile" nonsense that apparently isn't possible for me to set up by myself, on my own phone. "You'll need a code from your IT admin", I'm told, and "a management tool will be downloaded and used by your IT admin to manage your work profile". Great.
Contact list access is literally THE thing that makes WhatsApp valuable to Facebook. You lock down that and they are now staring at a massive hosting bill with nothing in return.
Knowing that I discuss everyday with X, is more interesting than to know that I somehow have the phone number of A,B,C,D...X,Y,Z.
But yeah I agree that's not surprising. When I personnally hit this issue I was like "ain't that a good old facebook product behind all that fresh paint"