FWIW: I've been using whatsapp without access to my contacts with the help of this little app: "Open in Whatsapp" https://github.com/subhamtyagi/openinwa https

FWIW: I've been using whatsapp without access to my contacts with the help of this little app: "Open in Whatsapp" https://github.com/subhamtyagi/openinwa https://github.com/subhamtyagi/openinwa You can enter a number in that app and it will launch a conversation with them in whatsapp. I think it makes use of the API mentioned in sibling comments.