3 ms·

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, et

by gcb0 7y ago

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.

ddhdhdhdhdhdh 7y ago
Looks like a good reason to delete these apps.
- eager_noob 7y ago
  Quite an unfortunate situation for those who would like public pressure on apps to minimize the permissions they ask for. Atleast in whatsapp's case it would be hard to convince most people to stop allowing contact access to the app as being able to send messages to all your phone contacts without any setup on your part is probably one of the major reasons that whatsapp became so popular.
londons_explore 7y ago
Whatsapp needs to know when you add a phone contact so it can lookup the corresponding whatsapp contact. 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?)
- dingaling 7y ago
  Just install 'Open in WhatsApp' from F-droid and you can immediately start a conversation with an arbitrary number. And without polluting your Contacts with numbers you'll maybe never use again. 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.
  - gcb0 7y ago
    Thank you! 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.

by gcb0 7y ago

ddhdhdhdhdhdh 7y ago

Looks like a good reason to delete these apps.

eager_noob 7y ago
Quite an unfortunate situation for those who would like public pressure on apps to minimize the permissions they ask for. Atleast in whatsapp's case it would be hard to convince most people to stop allowing contact access to the app as being able to send messages to all your phone contacts without any setup on your part is probably one of the major reasons that whatsapp became so popular.

londons_explore 7y ago

Whatsapp needs to know when you add a phone contact so it can lookup the corresponding whatsapp contact. 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?)

dingaling 7y ago
Just install 'Open in WhatsApp' from F-droid and you can immediately start a conversation with an arbitrary number. And without polluting your Contacts with numbers you'll maybe never use again. 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.
- gcb0 7y ago
  Thank you! 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.