Problem with redirecting calls that come through WhatsApp

/e/OS Devices
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Hi, I have a very annoying problem that only exists using WhatsApp.

WhatsApp for itself (2.26.33.74) runs absolutely fine for itself on my -now- /e/OS 4.2 which is an Android 16 (4.2-a16-20260815662938-official-FP6) on my Fairphone 6.

Also, if there are incoming normal phone calls, they get redirected flawlessly to the entertainment system of my car (5th generation Toyota Prius PHEV (in the US:Prime)).

But not if they come through WhatsApp. Using the phone there is, as stated, no problem with taking calls through WhatsApp.

But if the phone is connected to the car, the car tells me, once a call comes in, "Call from [my name]. At first I found that odd, but through the car’s perspective, the phone uses BT mechanisms, so this COULD make sense. So that is NOT the problem, I don’t mind.

I only get one button on the touch screen of the car: Reject… Also, the car doesn’t accept any voice command to take the call…

I have no idea whether this is an issue of /e/OS or WhatsApp (I do not think it’s a problem of the car, as I can take normal phone calls with no problems at all.

So I am at a loss here. Any ideas?

Thanks
hman

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This is the same with Signal Private Messenger. The call is encrypted so car entertainment (Bluetooth) has no way of knowing who the caller is.

Then asks you if you want to accept unknown caller, but you can only do it from the handset, not Bluetooth/car entertainment.

This is a normal security feature of an encrypted calling app, Signal or What’sStupid, I mean WhatsApp.

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As I wrote, I don’t mind the missing caller ID, but I need to answer the call from the car.
Using the phone is outright illegal and might lead to being fined, rest aside the immense safety risk.

There are folks from the other side of the planet who call me through WA to save money, but they cannot possibly know whether or not I am currently driving. So I get calls that I cannot answer at all. Highly annoying!

4

Well, it’s been proven that even with hands free, talking on the phone when driving affects the way you drive. So, let’s look at the silver lining this inconvenience may have :grin:

Why won’t you ring back when you stop?

It’s safer and you can focus on the chat…

Just don’t let the phone rule your life :slightly_smiling_face:

P.S. And with no caller i.d. make sure your voice mail is on on whatsapp - is there a feature like that on WA?

P.S.* And if it’s important they will message You or ring again… you can train them to do it!

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So perhaps some developer has made a work around for this? Or look in the WA setting for a switch or permission.

Or a shot in the dark, try connecting by USB see if anything changes.

This is not a feature of any custom ROM but an Android security feature.

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First of all, using the phone to accept a call while driving is simply illegal. Period. And no, I cannot stop on a highway to accept a call on the phone. And no, I do not own a car with hands free to having to stop for accept a call.

Second, there are reports that taking calls through the head unit of the card does work for some users, so it cannot be a feature of Android.

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@hman To accept a call in my country is perfectly legal so long as I do not touch the device (phone), in other words use the Bluetooth feature of the phone/car.

For people with older cars you can even buy Bluetooth add on devices. You are allowed to use the button in the car to pic up the Bluetooth call because it’s designed/located to not distract you from the road.

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Looks like you haven’t read my text. BT isn’t working with the car. Only when using WhatsApp. Regular phone calls can be accepted through the car with no problems at all.

When the call comes through WhatsApp, the car signals me the call, i.e. it rings. But the multimedia screen only offers me one option “hang up”. And the designated key on the steering wheel does not work.

First, it is totally against logic to buy an add’l BT device to take an incoming call while the car can do BT itself. Second, it’s not legal to search for such a device while driving because according to murphy you will never have it at hand when someone rings.

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No, they won’t. And I cannot train them. I cannot even tell them to leave a message after the beep. On my landline, last week someone with suppressed number (!) called me 30 times, says the phone. Never left any message.

From experience I can tell that these folks are the ones, once they get by chance talking to me, tell me “There is no way I can contact you. I am desperately trying to tell you that…”.

Hopeless.

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@hman As I said in the second post to this thread it the this is the nature of the encrypted app, they are not encrypted or the encryption cannot be guaranteed if they run over the car audio/BT system. When a Signal call come to my Ford it rings and just say End on the screen in the car so I cannot answer the call. Like you I will not touch the phone in the car as it is illegal.

Here is the law where I live: " Distracted driving laws are strict. Distracted driving can result in fines up to $672 and 5 demerit points". So I just don’t do it.

My work around is like grzecel I just call back later.

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Why not? From the phone’s perspective, the car is just a headset: A combination of a microphone and a loudspeaker.

It is being fed an audio stream, not data. The decoding (end-to-end) gets done in the WA app, the same way it has to decode it to feed the internal speaker of the phone. Sidenote: After that, the BT stack of the phone encrypts it once again (for transport layer sec).