When you’re logging onto WhatsApp and you need verification, there’s always sending the code via SMS or email. But sometimes you want something that is faster and automatic. It looks like the Facebook-owned messaging app is working on a new feature called Flash Calls which will do just that. It is supposedly a quicker way to get verified and log in quickly to the app. You just have to grant WhatsApp some call permissions if this is a verification method that you want to use.
According to WABeta Info, a site that usually gives reliable information about future WhatsApp features, this new feature shows up in the WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.21.11.7. Basically, WhatsApp will call your registered mobile number and then automatically end the call. The call verifies the last phone number in your log is equal to the number that gives you the 6-digit code. This way, this a more secure experience since the phone number is always different.
You will of course have to grant some permissions to WhatsApp if you want to use this verification method. You will have to let it make and manage calls as well as access your phone’s call log. The explanation says that WhatsApp will only use this once to confirm that you received the call. They promise not to use your call history for other purposes as they jut need to compare the last entry there with the number that should call you.
This feature is of course optional as you can just continue to use the SMS verification process if you don’t want Flash Calls. Some people are probably wary of granting WhatsApp further permissions given the whole new privacy policy thing. Although, if you’re still using WhatsApp now, it probably means that you’ve accepted that new policy anyway, despite the fact that they seem to be doubling back “punishing” accounts that haven’t yet.
The Flash Call feature is still under development and may be available in a future beta update. We’ll probably hear more details when it’s an official announcement or if there are more leaked details later on.