Whatsapp & Google Play Services

fluffheadman

I need Whatsapp for some groups I'm in. I don't really care about the privacy of these group conversations, so if Whatsapp is collecting that, whatever. My question is about Play services needing SMS permission to use the app. What are the consequences of this? Can Google read all of my texts?

treequell

fluffheadman Hi there. Google Play Services doesn't need SMS permission to run WhatsApp. It asks for it only once but you don't need to give it. Google Play Services is trying to read your SMS so it can auto fill your SMS confirmation code when you set up WhatsApp. Just ignore the request, wait for the SMS code to arrive and manually copy it into WhatsApp.

P.S. these days group chats are end to end encrypted in WhatsApp.

fluffheadman

treequell interesting, when I was entering my phone number it wouldn't allow me to proceed without giving SMS permission. Maybe I can disable it now.

unwat

fluffheadman

There's a Google library that app developers use for sms verification. Here's an article explaining how it works briefly: https://developers.google.com/identity/sms-retriever/overview

You can remove Play Services' sms permissions. It won't keep pestering you for permission until the next time you encounter this kind of sms verification.

octopi

i was able to get around this just now (found this thread via search engine) by disabling google play and restarting the phone verification process. i actually got a text instead of it just telling me to give gplay services SMS permissions.