The latest version of WhatsApp that I tested on Android, last week, starts OK without Contacts permission but can't add a contact manually; it constantly reprom

The latest version of WhatsApp that I tested on Android, last week, starts OK without Contacts permission but can't add a contact manually; it constantly reprompts for access to Contacts in order to save it. So basically useless. One workaround would be to export all Contacts to VCF, then prune the list to only those for WhatsApp, run it, let it import, then deny permission and then merge all the exports back into Contacts. But then that's only a keypress away from an accidental full-slurp and you still can't add newer contacts manually.