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iPhone users can now set WhatsApp as their default calling and texting app
- neuroelectron 2y agoCan WhatsApp use cellular?
- nathanaldensr 2y agoIt's proprietary.
- garyclarke27 2y agoIt works well for voice with data over cellular
- Alifatisk 2y agoCool, I hope I can set Google Photos as my default too.
- wordofx 2y agoWhy would anyone use Google photos to begin with?
- buggeryorkshire 2y agoBecause it's the best option I've seen and it's one they haven't ruined?
- sofixa 2y agoApart from the fact that they probably use your photos for training, it's pretty good. Searching by people, locations, text or objects in the photo is awesome (I know Apple recently added something like that, but Google have had it for years). Also the storage allocation is shared with Google Drive, so if you already use/pay for it, it's included.
- mikedelfino 2y agoI use it to back up my photos and create shared albums during vacations.
- Larrikin 2y agoBecause it's the benchmark that other photo app alternatives strive to be. It's a nightmare privacy wise, but Google built the best solution and a lot of iPhone users just assume Apple was the leader without trying anything else. Thankfully there is immich which is working hard to duplicate the feature set without the privacy invasion.
- joejohnson 2y agoGoogle Photos strips the metadata from your photos in unpredictable ways. It is a UX nightmare and an awful backup solution.
- bdavbdav 2y agoIt’s dreadful in the UK. The face matching is on device and just doesn’t work. I can’t search by detected objects. It doesn’t integrate with iMessage for sending large batches of photos via iCloud.
- theshrike79 2y ago> It's a nightmare privacy wise Privacy and random cloud AI not looking at my photos is my #1 criteria when picking a cloud photo storage system
- Alifatisk 2y agoCheaper than iCloud, superior tools, less issues with connectivity.
- claudex 2y agoI don't think Google Photos should be the default app for calls /j
- amelius 2y agoThank you, EU.
- FirmwareBurner 2y agoAnother W from the EU, though I'd hope Signal would be able to do the same.
- tonyedgecombe 2y agoThey didn't need to allow it outside the EU which makes me wonder if they would have done it anyway.
- more_corn 2y agoProbably easier to allow for everyone than maintain a branched feature set. This is why strict regulation in one place (such as vehicle emissions rules in California) can propagate changes throughout the world.
- dartharva 2y agoCredit should probably go more to large markets like India and LatAm where texting is literally = Whatsapp. This would be an absolutely sane commercial decision for breaking into those countries.
- Elfener 2y ago(as someone who doesn't use an iphone or whatsapp) What's the purpose of this? Surely if you want to call a phone number you want to make a phone call?
- sofixa 2y agoIn some countries there are mobile plans with "free WhatsApp/Facebook/etc", but limited or paid regular calls/messages/data.
- scarfaceneo 2y agoBecause pretty much everyone who isn’t from the US is on WhatsApp, and voip calls quality is infinitely better than normal voice calls. I either use FaceTime or WhatsApp.
- malthaus 2y agobut most phone numbers you are clicking on a web page (the cited use case) won't have a whatsapp account behind it
- Mashimo 2y agoAre you sure about that? Could imagine that countries like India the majority of buisneses also have an whatsapp account. Never tried it, but it seems that calling a regular non-account via whatsapp will still work. But routed through watsapp servers. If someone can confirm or deny that, would be cool.
- nathancahill 2y agoNo, overseas most do and it's endless frustrating right now: 1. Long press on the phone number, but don't tap it otherwise it calls 2. Choose Copy phone number 3. Create a contact 4. Refresh WhatsApp by quitting and reopening 5. Find the contact on WhatsApp and call If you're calling multiple companies for bookings or quotes, repeat this over and over.
- 2y ago
- TomMasz 2y agoIf you say anything derogatory about Zuck it disconnects.
- ZeroCool2u 2y agoWould love to be able to do this, but with Signal.
- zoky 2y agoWe’ve already been over this, JD…
- nathancahill 2y agoJD, no couch! Thank you.
- Symbiote 2y agoSignal had this ability in Android, but removed it a couple of years ago. To handle phone calls and SMS messages the app must handle the normal (GSM) ones too, and Signal said it could lead to confusion on whether the call/message was encrypted.
- more_corn 2y agoCan’t you simply show encrypted communications with a visual cue to clue users into the difference?
- more_corn 2y agoThis would be a killer feature for Signal. I just checked to see if I could do it.
- alephnerd 2y agoIndia, Brazil, and Indonesia iPhone sales go brrr.
- nathancahill 2y agoDoes it work with TOTP codes like Messages? That's my benchmark. Google Voice does not.
- aftbit 2y agoI assume you're talking about SMS 2FA code. TOTP doesn't require any networking - it's just an HMAC of the current time using a preshared key. Whether or not SMS 2FA works with a VoIP number is a decision made by the 2FA provider. The most paranoid of them (usually banks IME) will not send 2FA codes to VoIP numbers - they require a for-real cellphone number provided by a cellular provider. There are some VoIP numbers that try to pretend to be this, but none of them are reliable, and AFAIK Whatsapp does not even try.
- nathancahill 2y agoSorry, yeah 2FA. WhatsApp already delivers 2FA codes for Meta properties. I've never had my Google Voice phone number rejected from any 2FA signup, and the codes deliver fine. But won't show up above the keyboard like Messages does.
- AdmiralAsshat 2y agoHas anyone found a sandboxing/muzzling method yet for WhatsApp requiring access to all of your phone contacts to function? I have overseas family that I'd like to keep in touch with, they all seem to use WhatsApp, and I can't get them to use Signal instead. I've tried installing it a number of times, but as soon as I see that it requests Contact List permission and refuses to move forward if I deny it, that gets a big NOPE from me, and I uninstall it.
- yakz 2y ago"If you allow partial access, you'll be prompted to manually select which of your phone’s contacts you want WhatsApp to have access to. In this case, some contact names may not appear when you try to call or message them on WhatsApp. If you create a new contact in your phone’s address book with limited access, it won’t show on WhatsApp until you grant access for this contact in your settings. You can change access at any time by going to your phone's Settings > WhatsApp > Contacts." https://faq.whatsapp.com/1173713140597106/?cms_platform=iphone https://faq.whatsapp.com/1173713140597106/?cms_platform=ipho...
- AdmiralAsshat 2y agoSorry, I should've clarified my last installation attempt was on Android, not iPhone. I don't see an equivalent article, which makes me suspect that this is not an option on Android.
- machinestops 2y agoGrapheneOS has the functionality "Contact Scopes" in the same vein as "Storage Scopes" that only provides access to the specific contacts and files you allow.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- williamjackson 2y agoAccess to contacts for iOS apps is no longer all or nothing. You can grant an app access to only specific contacts. This is what I do for WhatsApp. Also, I know in the past I used WhatsApp without contacts access. It just showed phone numbers instead of names, but it was functional.
- henry_viii 2y agoStill can't have 2 WhatsApp accounts on iPhone, though.
- bdavbdav 2y agoWill WhatsApp ever do the opposite and let me make a real phone call instead of forcing me to call using WA when I hit a contact card from a message? It’s really frustrating when data is spotty
- ksec 2y agoSame here. And I am willing to pay just for this feature. 5G VoNR or 4G VoLTE is just so much better.
- nickphx 2y agoEvery crypto/stock investment scam I have been exposed to via Facebook Ads has used a whatsapp group to communicate with victims. Great to hear it will be easier to be victimized now.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- xwat 2y agoNew attack vector unlocked
- exabrial 2y agoeek, giving Facebook any permission is not ideal