WhatsApp calls disconnect after 4-5 seconds when iPhone 17 is locked

Solution found on Reddit that works flawlessly.

The problem comes from the iPhone 17's new "Centered Frame" camera feature. The effect follows your face. So you have to deactivate it.

Solution :

1. ⁠Start a Whatsapp video call.

2. ⁠Once in the call open the Control Center by swiping down from the top (right) of the screen.

3. ⁠Once in the control center click on “Whatsapp Controls” at the top of the screen.

4. ⁠Then deactivate the “Centered Frame” mode that appears among the other modes by clicking on it.

5. ⁠Cut the call and check if the problem is resolved by receiving a new video call.

Hope the solution works for everyone

Here are some troubleshooting steps you might want to try:

-Make sure you know your wifi password before network reset as network reset removes all the wifi connections the phone had in the past , and your phone is backed up beforehand so that you dont loose anything

-Check your network connectivity, issue maybe due to dropped bandwidth, even though it happens only when your phone is locked. Therefore, I would suggest that you reset the network settings (Settings> General>reset>reset network settings)

-Make sure you don't have vpn if you have one, you may wanna delete it and restart your phone

-Lastly, if uninstalling WhatsApp and redownloading it does not help, then this might be a bug and Apple will refer you to Meta, as it's not their product.you can find below link to contact Meta

https://www.whatsapp.com/contact

You will need to contact Meta for help with their software, this is not an Apple product.

Here are a couple of ways to contact them -

https://faq.whatsapp.com/

https://www.whatsapp.com/contact

Unlocking an iPhone does not require the selfie camera (front facing). Face ID uses IR Flood Illuminator and TrueDepth camera and dot projector. The request is because WhatsApp is trying to grab control of the selfie camera and iPhone must be unlocked for WhatsApp to take control of selfie camera. This is a WhatsApp issue.

A fix that worked for me is switching to data, receiving a call, then switching back.

Then contact Meta about their app, again Apple has no control over broken third party software.

I think the issue is with camera. Since to unlock the phone it is using camera which is being used by the WhatsApp. I see this notification pop up momentarily

[Edited by Moderator]

This is not an Apple issue. WhatsApp is full of bugs. Their developers are releasing updates multiple times a week. Have you deleted your old version and installed the latest version? There have been 5 updates in the last 7 days. The latest was just released yesterday. Does that sound like an app the developers are struggling find the bugs and fix the bugs? It certainly does.

This is a WhatsApp issue and the WhatsApp support team has said so. You wait for the developers to release an updated app version that fixes their bug.

filipjonathan wrote:

Great, so i need to disable one of the features that made me buy the phone in the first place. Wow. £700 guys!!!

If you mean centred frame, then yes if it fixes the problem, but that is entirely down to Whatsapp/Meta not testing their software on iphone 17, nothing to do with what Apple charged you for the hardware. Neither Apple nor Beta charge you an invoice for using Whatsapp, free wirldwide calls, so maybe the bitterness is misplaced, no doubt Meta will fix it at their leisure.

Why? It’s not happening for my other devices. It’s just happening for IPhone 17 on ios 26

Why? Because WhatsApp is not an Apple product and Apple isn't responsible for for broken third party apps, the app developer is.

same here this is happening only with incoming calls on whatsapp after connecting for 5 seconds it drops automatically however when I’m calling it’s working fine. Checked all setting and access its fine and it has only started happening after i bought iphone 17 before that in iphone 15 it never happened

You're welcome to believe what you want. However the reality is that Apple isn't responsible for fixing other companies broken software.

Fix it

Wow, nice attitude.

No, I won't fix it, this is a user to user forum, Apple isn't here.

Since the issue ONLY happens on iPhone 17, and happens consistently, this is not the software developers issue. This is a hardware/ Os compatibility issue. I hope you understand why I expect my new $1000 machine to be able to run the same software as hardware thats 4-5 years old. If the iPhone 17 can’t do something my iPhone 13 can do, then something is really wrong. I can’t find a reason to blame meta when their software is working on literally everything else.

i am also facing the exact same issue with my 1 week old iphone 17 and it is extremely annoying as i have to take multiple WhatsApp calls in a day. I don’t know how to get this issue sorted out . Apple needs to look into this .