WhatsApp coexistence
Use the WhatsApp Business App and the API on the same number
Keep replying from the WhatsApp Business App while your team answers the same chats in Fliok, switched on yourself, on every plan.
Needs WhatsApp Business App 2.24.17 or newer, with the number in use in the app for 7+ days.
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What you keep
Nothing you rely on goes away
Coexistence adds the API to the number you already use.
The app on your phone
Your recent chat history
Your contacts
One thread per customer
What changes
Meta’s rules for a shared number
Meta’s feature, Meta’s rules. None of them touch your number or your chats in the app.
- Open the app every 13 daysMeta disconnects a shared number after about 14 days without the phone app.
- Linked devices sign out onceLink them again, except WhatsApp for Windows and Wear OS, which Meta does not support.
- Groups stay on the phoneGroup chats are not synced, so they never appear in the Fliok inbox.
- App broadcast lists stopExisting lists turn read-only. Fliok template broadcasts take over (Basic and above).
- A few chat features switch offDisappearing, view-once and live location in one-to-one chats; calls, catalogs and orders through the API.
- Replies typed in the app stay freeMeta’s words: “messages sent by the business via the WhatsApp Business app will continue to be free, but messages sent via Cloud API will be subject to Cloud API pricing” (API pricing).
- A fixed sending speedMeta fixes a shared number at 20 messages a second, so big broadcasts take longer.
Built for it
How Fliok handles a shared number
Two places answering one customer, kept in step.
A phone reply counts as an answer
The AI agent steps back
Imported history stays quiet
Warned before Meta refuses
Setup
Connect your number in four steps
Meta’s own reviews, like display name approval, run on Meta’s timetable.
- 01
Check the requirements
The short list below. - 02
Create a Fliok account
Sign up on the Free plan; it is enough to connect. - 03
Choose “Keep using my WhatsApp Business App”
Sign in with Facebook and pick your business portfolio and WhatsApp Business Account. - 04
Confirm on your phone
Scan Meta’s QR code in the app, choose whether to share history, keep the app open.
Requirements
Before you connect
The same list Fliok’s onboarding shows.
- App version
- WhatsApp Business App 2.24.17 or newer, on a phone with a camera.
- Number in use
- Live in the WhatsApp Business App and used for at least 7 days.
- Other providers
- None. Disconnect one in the app: Settings → Account → Business platform.
- Two-step verification
- Have the 6-digit PIN ready, or turn it off before you start.
- Meta business
- Recommended: a verified business portfolio with a Facebook Page you administer.
Compare
Coexistence or a fresh API number?
Both run on Meta’s Cloud API in Fliok. The difference is the phone.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| What is compared | Coexistence (keep the app) | Fresh Cloud API number |
|---|---|---|
| The phone app | Keeps working on the same number | None: the number is used only through the platform |
| Chat history | Up to six months can be shared and imported | Starts empty |
| Contacts | Synced from the app | Imported by you, or created as customers message |
| Replies from the phone | Shown in the Fliok thread, labelled “phone” | Not applicable |
| Groups | Stay in the app, not in the inbox | Not available through the API |
| Product messages from Fliok | Not allowed by Meta (carts from the app’s catalog still arrive) | Available |
| Sending speed | Fixed by Meta at 20 messages a second | Meta’s standard Cloud API throughput |
| Best for | A number your customers already know | A new number just for the API |
The phone app
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- Keeps working on the same number
- Fresh Cloud API number
- None: the number is used only through the platform
Chat history
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- Up to six months can be shared and imported
- Fresh Cloud API number
- Starts empty
Contacts
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- Synced from the app
- Fresh Cloud API number
- Imported by you, or created as customers message
Replies from the phone
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- Shown in the Fliok thread, labelled “phone”
- Fresh Cloud API number
- Not applicable
Groups
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- Stay in the app, not in the inbox
- Fresh Cloud API number
- Not available through the API
Product messages from Fliok
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- Not allowed by Meta (carts from the app’s catalog still arrive)
- Fresh Cloud API number
- Available
Sending speed
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- Fixed by Meta at 20 messages a second
- Fresh Cloud API number
- Meta’s standard Cloud API throughput
Best for
- Coexistence (keep the app)
- A number your customers already know
- Fresh Cloud API number
- A new number just for the API
Meta’s rules from its coexistence documentation, read on 5 October 2026. If Meta’s page disagrees, Meta is right.
Got questions?
Frequently asked questions
The long version is in how coexistence works. Anything else, ask us.
Meta’s name for one business number running in two places at once: the WhatsApp Business App on a phone and the Cloud API that Fliok is built on. Messages from either side land in the same conversation.
Yes. In Fliok’s onboarding choose “Keep using my WhatsApp Business App”, finish Meta’s signup and confirm from the app. The app keeps working and the number appears in the Fliok inbox.
No. Meta can share up to six months of one-to-one history, which Fliok imports, and contacts sync by phone number. Group chats stay in the app and are not synced.
Yes, in the same thread, labelled “phone”. It counts as an answer: the chat stops waiting, and response times treat it like an inbox reply.
No. On Basic and above, after a human reply from the phone or the inbox, the AI stays out of that chat for 45 minutes. You can also switch it off per chat or for the workspace.
Group chats (not synced), app broadcast lists (read-only), disappearing and view-once messages and live location, and calls, catalogs and orders through the API. In Fliok, product messages need an API-only number; WhatsApp for Windows and Wear OS are unlinked.
Nothing extra: it is on every Fliok plan, Free too, and you switch it on yourself at sign-up. Replies sent from the app stay free. API messages are billed by Meta to your own account with no Fliok margin, free-form replies only after the first 1,000 a month per number.
Meta disconnects the number after about 14 days without the app, and Fliok shows it as disconnected in Settings. Reconnect with the same Facebook account and number; everything in Fliok stays.
Keep reading
Related guides
- How coexistence worksWhat you keep, what changes, how to connect.Read more
- WhatsApp Business API vs Business AppWhich one you need, and why you no longer choose.Read more
- WhatsApp API pricing in IndiaMeta’s per-message charges, with a calculator.Read more
- The shared team inboxYour whole team on one number.Read more
- The free WhatsApp Business API planWhat Free includes, and what still costs.Read more
- How to get the WhatsApp Business APIFrom signup to your first approved template.Read more
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