In addition to the verification SMS and the phone call, WhatsApp now has a new way to verify the mobile number when the account is being used on another phone: by sending the code as a popup window. Thanks to this method, the user can receive the code even if he does not already have an active SIM.
Changing mobile means taking all the applications from one phone to another. And one of the most important is, without a doubt, the WhatsApp application; not in vain in it we keep the most important conversations. Until now, to move the messaging app, it was enough to start it on the new mobile and enter the code that came by SMS to the registered phone. But what if you no longer had the SIM card? Now, and as long as WhatsApp is still active, it is much easier to move messages.
New code submission directly in the app
Left, verification options on the new mobile; right, verification code on the old mobile
Since WhatsApp is registered with a mobile number, the developers allowed reinstalling the application, along with the messages from the backup, after receiving a six-digit code via SMS at the associated phone number. This made it mandatory to keep the SIM active; which prevented moving the WhatsApp if the card was defective or if the mobile did not have coverage.
To speed up the change process, and offer an easier way to carry out the steps, WhatsApp now has three verification methods once the app is active on a mobile: through an SMS, with a phone call or through a pop-up message in the application itself. This last method is recent and is reaching all users once WhatsApp began testing it in December of last year.
When trying to register the phone number on another mobile WhatsApp automatically sends the verification code to the installed and running app. In this way, it is no longer necessary to have the SIM active for the startup process; which makes it easy to restore conversations on a new mobile. As long as the WhatsApp application is still active in the old one.
WhatsApp warned in the installed application that your number was intended to be used on another phone. With the new verification system this changes: in the old app the six-digit code now appears directly to verify the new installation. The change makes it easier to discover that someone is trying to steal the account: if the user has not asked for the code, the warning is much more striking. If you have not requested it, you should never send it to anyone.
By default, the first time you try to register the mobile number on a new phone, WhatsApp sends the code by pop-up window to the previously installed application. To request an SMS, two minutes must elapse after the first request and click on “Verification options”.