Got my fairphone 6 yesterday with e/os 3.4 installed. With this version I did manage to install whatsapp and migrate my contacts and chat history to the new phone. But today, after upgrading to 3.6 whatsapp logged me out and any attempt to login is met with a prompt that “I’m not using the official app”, which I definitely am, there’s no confusion about that.
any idea what’s causing this or how it can be fixed? Everyone I know uses whatsApp for communication. Not using it is not an option at this point.
I’m not using Whatsapp myself right now, but have you checked if the app (WhatsApp) is on the latest version? You might want to have a look in the App Lounge or perhaps the one you can download directly at https://www.whatsapp.com/android is worth a try, too.
Hi, yeah god hint but I already did that. Even uninstalled the app and downloaded the apk from their website. No change.
I also sent them a support ticket and got some AI generated bs back
Sometimes there are issues because WA wants you to connect in a way that it knows where you are (because of course), and if not it throws up random errors. I think you can find more about this online.
I must confess that I have not looked at the discussion there (my WhatsApp has worked for now), but it may be a starting point to find a solution?
I just hope that your phone number has not been banned for whatever reason
The forum search may bring up similar threads.
It is strange that the problem started after the update to /e/OS 3.6 though…
Not sure what the trigger was tbh. It worked with 3.6 for a few hours before killing itself so I’m not certain that’s the trigger. That post from 2024 is troubling. I’m low key considering switching back to SMS mailing lists after reading all that :))))
Within the EU birdychat should work for Whatsapp contacts, but I believe they have a waiting list & prioritise work accounts. I haven’t tested it on e-os.
Another user has reported the same problem on their new FP6 Feedback for v3.7 - #50 by macalca
I have asked @Manoj that the developers should maybe look into this.
I have installed WhatsApp for Business and registered it with my secondary phone number, which has worked (/e/OS A15, 3.7, on a OnePlus 6; I use XPrivacyLua however, so maybe WhatsApp Business does not see a system setting that triggers the problem).
@memory.of.a.dream : Can you check the microG (now called “App compatibility”) settings?
Go to your Android Settings > System > “App compatibility”.
Check whether all checkmarks are OK in “Self-Check”.
Is a Google account present in “Google Accounts”?
Check whether WhatsApp is registered in “Cloud Messaging” (it may not because of the problems you have described).
Finally, go to “Device Attestation”. Is WhatsApp listed there? My installation is shown, but when I tap on the WhatsApp icon, microG crashes (I think that this was not the case a couple of microG versions before).
cc @_mm3 , @macalca
cc @Manoj This may be a rather serious problem on /e/OS 3.6 and/or 3.7, namely on the FP6. Can the developers reproduce this problem?
Was the FP6 purchased from the Murena Shop? If yes, you can create a ticket on Contact Us if not already done.
You can share details with the team on the ticket.
m8, I already use signal for almost a decade now to chat with my two friends who also have it.
It’s hard to get people to switch, the benefits are too abstract for most people to understand.
Hi Tentos,
Thanks for the reply. I can confirm that all the Self-Checks are enable in app compatibility. the google account is linked and has the attached screenshot. Whatsapp is registered in CloudMessaging. Though the info in that screenshot is not 100% accurate. After first encountering the problem I Unistalled and reinstalled the app several times to try and solve this. Whatsapp is also present in device attestation.
I’ve also updated to 3.7 on Saturday and this didn’t fix it.
@Manoj in my case the app worked on 3.4. I was also able to read messages on 3.6 for a few hours. It kicked me out when I tried to link to my windows PC using the app on the fairphone. And no, i did not flash the device myself. The OS came pre-installed by the people at fairphone.They have this option on their store.
@memory.of.a.dream: Do you have access to an Android phone with official Google Android? Can you try to install WhatsApp there with your phone number? This is just a guess, but maybe this may help that your phone number is no longer flagged by Meta.
Thank you for the screenshots. Interestingly, WhatsApp is registered at GCM and has even received a message (probably the registration test message).
Does anything happen in Device Attestation when you tap on the WhatsApp entry?
When you have (hopefully successfully) installed WhatsApp on the other phone, then uninstalled it there: What happens on your /e/OS phone when you remove the Google Account in microG and try to reinstall WhatsApp?
I confess, I am guessing here.
The developers or QA have been unable to generate this issue. Developer has requested that an issue be created in Gitlab with the logs to help debug this issue.
