How to: Use WhatsApp on iOS

Last Reviewed: August 11, 2020

We've updated this guide to a new page. Please see the new version here.

We strongly encourage you to change your settings as described below (and ask your contacts to do the same!) in order to best protect your WhatsApp communications.

In particular, we're concerned about WhatsApp's August 2016 announcement of a new privacy policy that allows data sharing with parent company Facebook. This allows Facebook access to several pieces of WhatsApp users' information, including WhatsApp phone numbers and usage data.

Existing WhatsApp users at the time of the privacy policy switch had a grace period to change their settings and prevent Facebook from suggesting friends or serving ads based on WhatsApp data. New accounts, however, do not have the option to refuse these expanded uses of their data. Instead, the only option available to new users is whether to join WhatsApp at all under the new privacy policy and all of the data sharing it entails. Even though the company assures users it will not share their data directly with advertisers, this nevertheless presents a clear threat to users’ control of how their WhatsApp data is shared and used.

In addition we're concerned with WhatsApp's web app. WhatsApp provides an HTTPS-secured web interface for users to send and receive messages. However, as with all websites, the resources needed to load the application are delivered each and every time you visit that site. So, even if there is support for crypto in the browser, the web application can easily be modified to serve a malicious version of the application upon any given pageload, which is capable of delivering all your messages to a third party.

WhatsApp does still provide end-to-end encryption , which ensures that a message is turned into a secret message by its original sender, and decoded only by its final recipient. We take no issue with the way this encryption is performed. In fact, we hope that the encryption protocol WhatsApp uses, the Signal Protocol, becomes more widespread in the future. Instead, we are concerned about WhatsApp’s security despite the best efforts of the Signal Protocol.

If you would still like to use WhatsApp, see our tutorial below and be sure to turn off cloud backups and turn on fingerprint change notifications (see section on Additional Security Settings).

Download location: The app can be downloaded from the App Store

System requirements: iOS 9 or later.

Version used in this guide: 2.20.40

License: Proprietary

Other reading:

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Time required: 15-20 minutes

WhatsApp is an application that allows users on mobile devices to communicate with each other using end-to-end encryption. With it, users can securely chat with and call each other, send files, and engage in group chats. Although WhatsApp uses telephone numbers as contacts, calls and messages actually use your data connection; therefore both parties to the conversation must have Internet access on their mobile devices. Due to this, WhatsApp users don't incur SMS and MMS fees.

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook. The app itself is closed-source software, which means that it is very difficult for outside experts to confirm that the company has implemented their encryption in a secure way. Nonetheless, the methods that WhatsApp uses to send encrypted messages are public, and regarded as secure.

Installing WhatsApp on your iPhone anchor link

Step 1: Download and Install WhatsApp anchor link

On your iOS device, enter the App Store and search for "WhatsApp." Tap "Get," then "Install" next to the app WhatsApp Messenger by WhatsApp Inc

After WhatsApp finishes downloading, tap "Open" to launch the app.

Step 2: Register and Verify your Phone Number anchor link

WhatsApp will request access to your contacts. If you grant this access, WhatsApp will have a full list of your contacts' phone numbers. If you do not grant this access, you can manually add each of your contacts for chat messages, however you cannot make a new call without granting WhatsApp access to your phone's contacts. If you'd like to send photos, media, or files, WhatsApp will request access to these files as well.

Tap "Continue," then tap "Allow" for each if you wish to grant these permissions.

WhatsApp will next request access to send you notifications. Tap "OK" to be notified when you receive new messages.

First, you'll have to accept the WhatsApp Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Tap "Agree & Continue." You will then see a screen that looks like this:

Enter your mobile phone number and tap "Yes." You will then see a confirmation dialogue:

Click "Yes." In order to confirm your phone number, you will be sent an SMS text with a six-digit code. Enter it into the dialogue that looks like this:

You will then be prompted to edit your profile by adding a name and a profile picture:

Using WhatsApp anchor link

To use WhatsApp, the person that you are messaging or calling must have WhatsApp installed as well.

When a new encrypted conversation is initiated, you will see a notification as follows: "Messages you send to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption. Tap for more info." At this point, you can verify the authenticity of the person you are talking with, to make sure that their encryption key wasn't tampered with or replaced with the key of someone else when your application downloaded it (a process called key verification). Verifying is a process that takes place when you are physically in the presence of the person you are talking with.

To verify, you can manually view the contact by tapping on their name at the top, then in the subsequent screen, tapping on the blue lock icon:

Have your contact follow the same process on their phone. The following screen will be titled "Verify security code":

You will see a string of 60 numbers. You can either verify by manually reading off these numbers and making sure they correspond with your contact's numbers, or having them scan your QR code which appears on this screen.

Another verification method you may want to consider is taking a screenshot of the numbers and sharing it over a secondary secure channel.

Once this is done, you can be assured that encrypted communications with this contact really are only accessible by yourself and your contact. This applies to both text messages within WhatsApp as well as WhatsApp voice calls.

Additional Security Settings anchor link

Show Security Notifications anchor link

As stated above, if for any reason the encryption key of a contact changes, you may want to be notified of this change.

Ordinarily, a key changing is no cause for alarm: this often happens as a result of app re-install or switching phones. There is, however, the possibility of a key change being caused by a malicious third party performing a man-in-the-middle attack. For this reason, it is good practice to verify (as described above) once again when the key of your contact changes. By default, WhatsApp doesn't display when contacts keys change. To enable this, go into Settings → Account → Security, and slide 'Show security notifications' to the right:

iCloud Backup anchor link

Also stated above, you'll probably want to ensure that unencrypted backups are not sent to Apple.

Navigate to Settings → Chats → Chat Backup to ensure cloud backups are turned off. Under "Auto Backup" choose "Off":

Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication anchor link

In the same Account menu area that you were able to access the Privacy and Security settings, you will see an option to configure Two-Step Verification.

Tap into that menu and you'll be given a one-option screen that asks you to enable Two-Step Verification by adding a PIN number that you will need to enter any time you register your phone number with WhatsApp again.

Once you select the "Enable" option, a screen will appear that asks you to create a six-digit pin.

You are now ready to use WhatsApp for iOS.