Using WhatsApp with new Sim card

[Carolyn G]

I understand the apps on my iPhone will work with a new SIM card but will WhatsApp? Will I need to reinstall it with the new phone Spanish number ?
Thanks !

 

[SioCamino]

Hi Carolyn, any time I have used a new sim abroad I’ve kept my whatsapp on my existing number. It’s been a while since I’ve done it but I think it will send a text message with an authentication code to your original sim phone number. It’s makes for a slightly confusing set up - all whatsapp messages/calls will go through your original phone number while text message/calls outside whatsapp will be on your new sim phone number.

 

[linkster]

You can keep you old phone number for use with a new SIM card in Whatsapp. I think there was a prompt to keep your old number. It was very easy to do. This way everyone can still contact you with your old phone number on your new SIM. I am sure someone can help you when you get your new SIM card.

 

[J Willhaus]

This is an old thread, but I just want to verify something with those of you who are superusers of WhatsApp. Many of you are aware, I am taking a student group to the Camino over the holidays. If we put in our US number into the WhatsApp group and some students decide to get a Spanish Sim, will they still get the group messages and be able to respond?

I have only used WhatsApp groups once or twice and never overseas.

 

[trecile]

Yes, WhatsApp will keep their home phone number.

 

[dick bird]

some students decide to get a Spanish Sim

Whatsapp will recognise that they have a new SIM and ask if they want to use their original number. Make sure they say yes.

 

[peregrina2000]

Whatsapp will recognise that they have a new SIM and ask if they want to use their original number. Make sure they say yes.

WhatsApp has never asked me if I want to keep my original number, and I’ve switched back and forth from my US number to Spain sim and back to US at least 7 or 8 times since I’ve started using WhatsApp. I guess it doesn’t matter, but I wonder why not.

What it has asked me, though, is whether I wanted to change @jungleboy’s number to a Chinese number he had when working in China for a while. So it seems that I did get a notification when one of my contacts changed numbers. But I also know that doesn’t happen all the time. I am WhatsApp contacts with @C clearly, and nobody asked me if I wanted to change to her Spanish Sim number when she started her camino last year

So it all is a little mysterious, but luckily it all seems to work perfectly!

 

[dougfitz]

This is an old thread, but I just want to verify something with those of you who are superusers of WhatsApp. Many of you are aware, I am taking a student group to the Camino over the holidays. If we put in our US number into the WhatsApp group and some students decide to get a Spanish Sim, will they still get the group messages and be able to respond?

One way of looking at this is to think of the phone number registered in WhatsApp as a login id that links a device to that account on WhatsApp. The device can be a phone (typically) but can also be a tablet or PC with a WhatsApp client app installed. I have these on an Android tablet and Windows laptop. You can have up to four of these devices active, your primary phone and three secondary devices, and you will be able to synchronise them.

There are some limitations to this. Two that I know of are:

• The primary phone has to be used no less than every fourteen days, otherwise all the synced devices are logged off, and will need to be set up again.
• Some message content, like photos, does not sync automatically, but can be downloaded to the secondary devices

I suspect most people know this, but it might be worth repeating. WhatsApp only requires an IP (internet) connexion. This can be through the mobile network you are connected to, or any other internet connexion you can find, which these days is typically WiFi. So if you want to preserve the capacity from your mobile provider, it is possible to go to flight mode, enable WiFi, and only use WhatsApp at bars, cafes, albergues and anywhere that offers WiFi.

That said, if you want to use a service like AlertCops in Spain, you will need to either keep your mobile out of flight mode, or turn flight mode off when you want to use it. That would be an extra step to think about when something is happening you want to report quickly.

 

[J Willhaus]

One way of looking at this is to think of the phone number registered in WhatsApp as a login id that links a device to that account on WhatsApp. The device can be a phone (typically) but can also be a tablet or PC with a WhatsApp client app installed. I have these on an Android tablet and Windows laptop. You can have up to four of these devices active, your primary phone and three secondary devices, and you will be able to synchronise them.

There are some limitations to this. Two that I know of are:

• The primary phone has to be used no less than every fourteen days, otherwise all the synced devices are logged off, and will need to be set up again.
• Some message content, like photos, does not sync automatically, but can be downloaded to the secondary devices

I suspect most people know this, but it might be worth repeating. WhatsApp only requires an IP (internet) connexion. This can be through the mobile network you are connected to, or any other internet connexion you can find, which these days is typically WiFi. So if you want to preserve the capacity from your mobile provider, it is possible to go to flight mode, enable WiFi, and only use WhatsApp at bars, cafes, albergues and anywhere that offers WiFi.

That said, if you want to use a service like AlertCops in Spain, you will need to either keep your mobile out of flight mode, or turn flight mode off when you want to use it. That would be an extra step to think about when something is happening you want to report quickly.

So if you had your phone on airplane for a month, would your WhatsApp stop working after 2 weeks or is using it on WiFi enough?

I admit that a few years ago I often didn't even use my cell phone for weeks at a time, but now I use it daily. It would often be dead in the bottom of my book bag until someone asked me why I wasn't responding to their calls. I didn't take a cell phone on my first two Camino trips to Spain.

Thanks for all this info. My students are extremely excited for the trip. I just want us to be able to communicate if needed as we are strung out along the Camino each day. Many if them have expressed a desire to scale back on digital exposure since the class is called Pilgrimage for the Mind, Body, and Soul. That is exciting to me. We'll cover the safety issues they need to know so thank you for reminding me about the need to activate the cell number first.

 

[dougfitz]

So if you had your phone on airplane for a month, would your WhatsApp stop working after 2 weeks or is using it on WiFi enough?

My understanding is that the primary device (the phone in this case) needs to be connected. How that connexion is established shouldn't matter, and it could be on WiFi or through a mobile connexion. You might want to check the WhatsApp FAQ to see if that is addressed there.

 

[J Willhaus]

I did check them, but didn't see all the answers I have gotten here. Thank you again.