WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the handy features of WhatsApp is that it gives you missed call notifications when someone tries to reach you. But do you get missed call notifications on WhatsApp in the same way as your regular phone calls?
How WhatsApp missed call notifications work
When someone calls you on WhatsApp and you miss the call, you will get a notification for the missed call. However, this notification works a bit differently from regular call notifications on your phone:
- You will not get a missed call notification if you have blocked the contact on WhatsApp.
- The notification comes through the WhatsApp app itself rather than your phone’s call log.
- You will only get notified about missed WhatsApp calls when the app is open and running in the background on your phone.
- If WhatsApp is force closed or in battery optimization mode, you may not get the missed call notification at all.
So in summary, WhatsApp does give missed call notifications but they rely on the app being open and active rather than being integrated with your phone’s native call functions.
When do WhatsApp missed call notifications not come through?
There are certain scenarios where you may not get a missed call notification for WhatsApp calls:
- If your phone is on Do Not Disturb mode, you will not get any notification sounds/vibrations. The notification will still show up silently in the app.
- As mentioned above, if WhatsApp is force closed or battery optimized, the notifications may not come through.
- If your phone has no internet connection or the WhatsApp servers are down, it cannot receive notifications.
- Contacts blocked on WhatsApp will not trigger a missed call notification.
- Sometimes if the person ends the WhatsApp call too quickly, before it fully rings on your phone, it may not register as a missed call.
- On Android phones, swiping away the WhatsApp notification will dismiss the missed call notification as well.
So in most cases, as long as WhatsApp is running properly in the background, you should get reliably notified. But in some situations like no connectivity or quickly canceled calls, the notification may fail to come through.
What happens when you get a WhatsApp missed call notification?
When someone calls you on WhatsApp and you miss it, here is what happens:
- A missed voice call notification will show up in your WhatsApp notifications tray with the name of the caller.
- The notification typically makes a sound and vibrates just like regular call notifications.
- In the Calls tab within WhatsApp, you will see the missed call marked in red.
- You can tap the missed call notification or the Calls tab entry to call the person back directly from WhatsApp.
- If you have notifications enabled for that chat, it will also show up as a “Missed voice call” message in the chat thread with that contact.
So in essence, you get visual, sound and vibration alerts about the missed call and can easily call back the person straight from the notification or call log.
How long do WhatsApp missed call notifications stay?
Missed call notifications on WhatsApp will persist in a couple places:
- The notification will stay in your tray until you swipe it away or clear all notifications.
- The Calls tab will show the missed call until you tap into the call log.
- The chat thread will retain the “Missed voice call” message until you clear chat history.
So the notifications are persistent and remain accessible across WhatsApp until explicitly dismissed. The Calls tab entry gets cleared when accessed, while the chat history entry remains indefinitely.
Can you tell who missed a WhatsApp call?
Yes, WhatsApp provides clear indicators about who missed a call:
- The notification itself shows the name and profile picture of the caller.
- The Calls tab lists all incoming and outgoing calls, with missed calls in red.
- The chat thread of the caller contains a “Missed voice call” message.
Between these various WhatsApp call logs and notifications, you can clearly identify the contact who tried to reach you with a missed call. It helps you instantly call them back or follow up over chat.
How do WhatsApp missed call notifications sync across devices?
WhatsApp allows linking up to 4 devices to one account. Missed call notifications behave as follows across linked devices:
- All devices signed into the account will receive the notification simultaneously.
- Clearing the notification on one device clears it system-wide.
- Missed calls sync across devices so you can see them on the Calls tab everywhere.
- Viewing the call log on one device marks the missed call as seen on all devices.
So you get a fully synced WhatsApp calling experience across multiple devices. This allows seamless management of missed calls from any linked device.
Can you turn off WhatsApp missed call notifications?
WhatsApp does not have a direct setting to disable missed call notifications. However, you can turn them off using the following methods:
- Disable notifications for the WhatsApp app completely in your phone’s app settings.
- Mute the notifications for specific chats and calls within WhatsApp.
- Switch on Do Not Disturb mode to suppress all notifications.
- On Android, go to app settings and disable the “Missed call notifications” option.
While not ideal, using these indirect methods can effectively disable missed call alerts from WhatsApp if required. But you would miss out on all other notifications from the app as well.
Troubleshooting WhatsApp missed call notifications
If you are not getting WhatsApp missed call notifications reliably, try these troubleshooting steps:
- Check if WhatsApp has call notification access enabled in app settings.
- Make sure WhatsApp is not battery optimized and has background activity access.
- Confirm Do Not Disturb mode is not turned on and muting specific chats.
- Check that the caller is not blocked and their number is not on your block list.
- Update WhatsApp to the latest version in case it is a bug causing issues.
- Toggle airplane mode on/off to force reconnect WhatsApp servers.
- Clear cache and data for WhatsApp to refresh the app.
Following these steps can help troubleshoot most common reasons for missed call notifications not coming through on WhatsApp.
Conclusion
To summarize, WhatsApp does send notifications for missed calls that allow you to instantly call back contacts. However, these notifications rely on the app running actively in the background and have some limitations compared to native call notifications. While not flawless, they provide a handy alerting mechanism for missed WhatsApp calls across multiple devices.
| Notification Sent? | Conditions |
|---|---|
| Yes | WhatsApp open in background, caller not blocked, stable internet connection |
| No | Do Not Disturb on, WhatsApp force closed, caller blocked, poor/no connectivity |
This summarizes the key points around receiving and managing missed call notifications on WhatsApp.