I've never denied these permissions to Signal, but I have denied them to WhatsApp. What's really surprising to me is that WhatsApp never asks again and totally functions without contacts access. Weird, right? I just receive messages from rando +93 numbers, which is exactly what I want. Of course this is not a comment supporting WhatsApp, since it has all kinds of user-hostile components (I can't even send a message without adding a number to my contacts and giving the app permission to read contacts).
Just let me suffer with the amount of pain I am willing to put up with to use the app the way I want. If I don't need profile pics and names from my contacts, then don't try to make me have them! :)
It's okay to praise Whatsapp for something they do right even if they don't do everything right. I suppose.
