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February 9, 2014

WhatsApp Contact Profile Picture not Publicly Visible Anymore

Since few days, I noticed that some of my WhatsApp contacts are not having profile pictures, but I noticed one thing these contacts were to whom I never had talk.

After doing a bit Google and some experiments with my WhatsApp contacts, I found that "WhatsApp updated their policies and you can't see profile picture of your contacts if they do not have your number saved in their contacts book."
I do not have any official information about this but I checked this many time by deleting contacts and updating contacts. So maybe this is a short time bug or a lifetime policy change. :P


The Good things:
  • Now you can control who can see your WhatsApp profile picture. You can delete contact if you want to hide your profile picture from that contact.
  • You can know who has you as contact in their contacts book.
The Bad things:
  • Now people can’t see who is the person by only knowing name and number or say last seen time. :D
  • People cannot see even a thumbnail image of profile picture.
  • WhatsApp revealed the originality of friends without giving a chance of saving the contacts.
If you are shocked, so do not fool yourself by believing that this is fake news: :P
Comment and share if you know anything about this.

68 comments:

  1. It is so not cool hey, old version was much better. Whatsapp is now dull and boring. Couldnt they just restrict downloading of the image, and allow the viewing only.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FIXED: found the solution myself (for android)...nothing to do with the privacy policy glitch bullshit

    basically the ONLY PEOPLE who experienced this problem have all their contacts stored on their sim card and not on the phone's internal memory. you just have to export them (or some) to the phones memory and then open up whatsapp and you would see everyones picture. after that you can go back & delete all the contacts on your phones memory and you sim card phone numbers would still be their as normal

    1. go to your phone contacts & select settings.
    2. select import/export.
    3. select import from sim card and then select the blue device icon.
    4. find the contact who's pic you cant see & select done...the contact will copy, meaning you would have 2 of the same contacts in your list,
    one with sim card icon & another one with the blue device/phone icon.
    5. open whatsapp & you'll see that the contact who didnt have a pic would now have their original pic up showning once again.
    6. if you want, go back into your contact list & delete the contact with the blue device/phone icon, leaving you with the sim card icon alone as originally. so you
    would have one of the contacts number in you phone instead of two.

    i rather have my contacts stored on my sim card rather than my phones internal memory, even though you can have both at the same time

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of my contact I can see the thumbnail but cannot select or download the image, last seen is visible.. Y?

      Delete
    2. not working. i copied the contact but still cant see the profile pic

      Delete
  3. Hi! i noticed the same problem 2 days back. But guess what. there are 2 contacts whose profile picture is visible to me while they actually don't have my number nor do they know I have saved theirs. So what is this privacy policy whats app is trying??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those guys would not have updated their version mostly

      Delete
    2. Hello, they might have updated but have forgotten or may not have changed the privacy settings to contacts only. And hence you are able to view their info.. Cheers!!

      Delete
  4. Hi! I faced the same problem 2 days back.but i Have 2 contacts who do not have my number but i can see their profile picture.. How is that??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It depends on the person's privacy settings. Some have it as "public" whilst some have it as "my contacts only".

      Delete
  5. Hi All,
    I already mentioned that in my post "Maybe this is a short time bug or a lifetime policy change.". But actually it was not a policy change so may be it was an experiment or system bug, because it is fixed now everyone can see profile picture of any contact again ;)

    If you still facing issue delete that particular contact, refresh WhatsApp contact list and save again that contact then refresh again. you will be able to see profile picture.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Few weeks back I set only for my contact to see my profile picture and last seen, but now again non contacts in my phone can see my profile picture and my last seen:(( I don't like that... I want only my contacts to see my profile picture and last seen. What is wrong. My privacy on whatsap is not working:( can anyone help or have the same problem?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi nara!
    Try to change the settings again, and your contact should be visible in WhatsApp contact for which you are testing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. i have my status set to "only contacts" if i delete a contact from my favourtites in whatsapp will they still beable to see my status or do i have to compleately delete them from my actual contact list ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes you have to completely delete those contacts from phone contact list to hide status from them.

      Delete
    2. Hi nick.. i have the same problem.... but the problem is still there... those who are not in my contacts can still see my status.....

      Delete
    3. Hi, Delete contact then refresh contact list and check again.

      Delete
  9. How can you can know who has you as contact in their contacts book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This post was published before WhatsApp introduced privacy options. Now you can not predict this until you don't know their privacy settings.

      Delete
  10. is there a way of knowing if some1 looked at your profile as oppose to "last seen time" that may show them using watsapp with another contact

    ReplyDelete
  11. is there any way i can check who are in my contacts has viewed my DP PROFILE PICTURE or is there any third party tool for android ??

    ReplyDelete
  12. How can be it possible to see profile pic and status of my friend's whatsapp . . He doesn't have my contact save in his contact list . . Please tell me the way to see his profile pic and status

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ag this new version is just bullshit

    ReplyDelete
  14. if i uninstall and reinstall whatsapp, will i able to see profile pics of contacts who has blocked me .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, Create a new account and try if they have public profile picture you will be able to see the picture.

      Delete
  15. if I keep the setting visible to only my contacts both for profile picture and status,will anyone other than my contact "ll be able to see me online

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! you can not hide when you are online to anybody except blocked people. But nobody other than your contacts won't be able to see your last seen.

      Delete
  16. Okay wait does it mean my friend deleted my number from her phone book? Because recently we go through with a fight and if she do so it will ridiculous and i am never going to contact her ever :@

    ReplyDelete
  17. hi, I am confused please help - if i delete someone from my contact list on my phone and whatsapps list but they still have my details in their phone will they still see my profile picture changes and status updates?

    ReplyDelete
  18. I deleted a contact from my phone contact list, but she is still able to see changes in my profile picture. It doesn't work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only deleting contact from phone contact will not work, you also need to change the privacy setting to my contact only.
      Try this and change your profile picture then check.

      Delete
  19. Yes I'v changed my privacy settings to my contacts only and I'v deleted the contact from my phone. Still it shows the changes in my profile picture

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had the same problem. But when I took battery out of my phone and restart my phone then people who is not in my contacts couldn't see my last seen in profile pic. Hope it helps.

      Delete
  20. can i ask? if i already deleted someone in my contact list, are they able to see my profile picture if i already change my setting to my contact only?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not at all but they need to refresh their contact list once.

      Delete
  21. I dont want to show my whatsapp profile picture to selected contacts from my phone book, without blocking and without deleting them.....is it possible.?

    ReplyDelete
  22. how to see other person's whats apps status without he save my number but i save that person's whats app number ?????

    ReplyDelete
  23. How can I know who has me as contact in their contacts book? Is it possible

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First save their contact number in another phone (of which they don't have number). Check what information is missing and analyze what you see with your WhatsApp.
      This how you can just guess it.

      Delete
  24. I have a no of person n I can see his updated dp n status.... So is it necessary that he also have my no in his phone

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only if they have set their WhatsApp privacy setting to contact only. You can check this by saving their number in a phone of which you are completely sure that they do not have that number.

      Delete
  25. Hi i ve one problem ,....in my whatsapp i ve set "last seen " to only for my contacts but now am unable to see my friends "last seen" because its displaying all friends as "online" even through they are offline...i ve reinstalled already but still facing the same problem..

    ReplyDelete
  26. My dp is visible to everyone even though I changed my settings to my contacts I dont knw Wat to do it really irritates me what should I do??????it is visible to every person even if I dont have their num saved

    ReplyDelete
  27. hey !! its true!
    (noticed the difference, just now, on updating2latest version of WTSAPP)
    ..
    in addition, facing 1more problem.

    UNABLE2find the option2edit d GROUPicon(i am NOT d ADMIN).
    can only edit GroupName.

    ANY IDEA ???

    ReplyDelete
  28. One of my contacts that I usually can see their last seen online status.....I can no longer see. The profile photo is still there and the status. Could this person have blocked me ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No! May be just deleted your number or removed his/her DP :)

      Delete
  29. can people I'm in a whatsapp group with see my profile pic even though I set my settings as "my contacts" only???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No they will not see your profile pic if you don't have their contact saved in your phone. But they will see your number and display name which you've set in WhatsApp.

      Delete
  30. Any way to check what's app profile PIC of someone who has the privacy feature on? Read it is possible via the web version of WhatsApp. Is that true?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Any way to check what's app profile PIC of someone who has the privacy feature on? Read it is possible via the web version of WhatsApp. Is that true?

    ReplyDelete
  32. If I changed my number and only a couple of people have my new number those who havent got it can they still see my on whats ap

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hi, im having an issue with the last update. I have set my privacy to 'My contacts only' but my profile picture and status are still visible to those who are not in my contact list. How can i fix it plz?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Not able to see some of my contact display picture

    ReplyDelete
  35. will my dp visible to strangers in group if my Privacy setting is "My Contact"

    ReplyDelete
  36. Any way to check what's app profile PIC of someone who dont have my no and has the privacy feature on? Can I see that person dp via the web version of WhatsApp.

    ReplyDelete
  37. My problem is that I have stored my friends contact in my sim .. but suddenly yesterday all noticed that my dp is not visible to them.but I had kept my dp.. then I tried to change my privacy of profile picture from my contacts to everyone. And now everybody are able to see my pro pic.. so now I need my dp to be visible to my contacts only.. What should I do now..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Problem can be WhatsApp do not have access to your SIM card numbers. This could be model specific problem but now new androids phone does not allow to have contacts in SIM card however you can import them from SIM card. Try reaching Phone support.

      Delete
  38. I am group admin one, of what's app group I remove 1 person from the group because of his post wrong things in a group. But that person is still able to see other members' numbers from group I want that person does not see any member details from group how to stop him

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, you can not stop him even you remove everyone and delete group.
      This is a good feature that can be added. You can ask contact WhatsApp for this.

      Delete
  39. heyy..plz help me

    my problem is dat..i m unable to save a particular friend's whatsapp dp..bt though i can able to save other's dp of my contacts...is der any solutiont to resolve the problem...

    ReplyDelete
  40. Ya it's not good, love old version of WhatsApp

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hi... I have joined one of the marketing whatsApp group,how can I hide my DP those group members..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Simply don't save the number of people in group memeber and keep the privacy setting of profile picture Contact only.

      Delete