Which WhatsApp features stop working after Coexistence
Four things stop working once a number is connected through Coexistence: disappearing messages, view once messages and live location are all turned off for one-to-one chats, and broadcast lists are disabled entirely, with any existing ones becoming read-only rather than being deleted.
WhatsApp features disabled on a number once Coexistence is active.
What existing broadcast lists become rather than being deleted.
The chats the disabling applies to.
The four
Each is switched off at the platform level rather than hidden, and each has a reason connected to the API being able to see the conversation.
- Disappearing messages: turned off for all one-to-one chats.
- View once messages: disabled for all one-to-one chats.
- Live location messages: disabled for all one-to-one chats.
- Broadcast lists: disabled, and existing ones become read-only rather than being removed.
Why these four in particular
Because each of them promises something the API contradicts.\n\nA disappearing message promises it will not persist. A view once message promises it can be seen once. Both promises depend on nothing else holding a copy, and a connected number is by definition delivering those messages to another system.\n\nLive location is a continuous stream rather than a message, which has no API representation. Broadcast lists are an app-side way of sending to many people at once, and the platform's own answer to that is templates, which go through the API with approval.\n\nSo none of this is arbitrary. It is the platform declining to promise something it can no longer keep.
What it means before you connect a client's number
Ask whether the business uses any of them, because finding out afterwards is a bad conversation.\n\nBroadcast lists are the one that catches real businesses. A shop that sends a weekly message to two hundred customers through a broadcast list will lose that workflow, and the replacement is an approved marketing template, which needs a payment method on the account and Meta's review.\n\nDisappearing messages catch a different kind of user, usually someone who turned it on once and forgot. Live location almost never comes up outside delivery and field service.
Common mistakes
- Connecting a number that relies on broadcast lists without telling the business. The replacement is a template, with approval and billing attached.
- Assuming existing broadcast lists are deleted. They become read-only.
- Expecting these to come back while the number stays connected. They do not.
EasyCoexistence connects a number through Meta's own flow, so what changes is what Meta changes: these four, and nothing added by us.
Frequently asked questions
Can I turn disappearing messages back on?
Not while the number is connected. Disconnecting restores the app's normal behaviour.
Are my existing broadcast lists deleted?
No. They become read-only, so the contents survive and cannot be sent to.
Does this affect group chats?
The disabling is documented for one-to-one chats. Groups are outside the API entirely on a Coexistence number.
What replaces a broadcast list?
An approved marketing template sent through the API, which requires a payment method on your own WhatsApp Business Account.
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