[thisislife2]

Not true in India. WhatsApp initially worked without access to the Contact list, and you could send a message to someone by typing their number directly in WhatsApp. But after a few updates, it does not allow you to start any new conversation without access to the contact list. And if you still ignore it, further updates prevent you from using WhatsApp at all unless you give it access to the contact list.

[throwaway290]

I doubt whatsapp is customized per country and no idea what's going on there. For me it was like this probably 4-5 years ago. Right now whatsapp on iphone allows me to create a new contact and then message that contact. The contact is only saved in whatsapp. App has no access to my contacts.