have you tried using WhatsApp without the Contacts permission?
Not to be pedantic about an off-hand comment, but yeah, works fine, AFAICT. I'm not even a "pro" WhatsApp user: I use it strictly for the one social group that didn't think SMS was good enough. Meaning I didn't have to know the secret incantation. I'm sure I was asked about contacts, to which I assume I said "FB? Hahaha, no way!" And if I go to the Status tab, it sho'nuff complains about me not uploading contacts and if I want status of all my WhatsApp peeps, I need to upload contacts.
Not to be pedantic about an off-hand comment, but yeah, works fine, AFAICT. I'm not even a "pro" WhatsApp user: I use it strictly for the one social group that didn't think SMS was good enough. Meaning I didn't have to know the secret incantation. I'm sure I was asked about contacts, to which I assume I said "FB? Hahaha, no way!" And if I go to the Status tab, it sho'nuff complains about me not uploading contacts and if I want status of all my WhatsApp peeps, I need to upload contacts.