What loads when after connecting
Scenario: You have just scanned the QR code. Your chats are in, but some chats show initials instead of a photo and some contacts show a phone number instead of a name. This page explains what arrives when and why.
The short version
New messages, your chats and their history are there right away. Profile photos and contact names load gradually over the next day. Spun paces this on purpose: a newly linked device that fetches every profile at once is what WhatsApp treats as unusual, so we take it slowly to keep your number in good standing.
This pacing is part of every new link. There is no setting to skip it, and Expert mode in Sending preferences does not lift it.
What arrives when (a new link)
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Now | New messages, your chats and their history, and status updates |
| After the first few minutes (about 10) | Profile photos, a few at a time, starting with the chats you have on screen |
| As your phone delivers them | Contact names |
| Within 24 hours | Everything else |
Photos for chats you have not scrolled to yet keep filling in after that, a limited batch each day, never all at once.
Reconnecting the same number
When you reconnect a number that has been working normally in Spun, the pause is shorter: about 2 minutes, and everything is caught up within the hour. The screen after the scan then says Reconnected. Catching up.
A reconnect is treated like a new link when the number is new to Spun, or when WhatsApp logged it out or restricted it in the last 30 days. A short drop that recovers without a new QR scan does not restart anything.
What you see in the inbox
- After the scan, the screen says Connected. Your WhatsApp is syncing. with the timeline above. Open inbox works straight away, and the screen continues to the inbox by itself after a few seconds.
- A banner at the top of the inbox reads "Photos and contact names are loading gradually, everything by" and a time (Israel time). Details shows the timeline and "Why we pace this". You can dismiss the banner; it comes back once when the next stage starts.
- Settings > WhatsApp > Health has a Link sync card with the current stage, what has arrived and what is next. The stages are Getting started, Loading profile photos, Loading contact names, Finishing photos and status and Done. After it finishes, the card reads "Everything has synced." until two days after you linked, then disappears.
- Chats without a photo show initials until the photo arrives.
- A chat with no messages yet may read Loading history during the first few minutes. New messages still arrive right away.
Checking numbers on WhatsApp during the first day
Checking whether a list of phone numbers is on WhatsApp counts as bulk activity, even when you start it yourself, so it follows the same pace. The same goes for adding many people to a group at once. Sending messages is never held back. If you run a check early on, part of it may wait, and Spun says so: "WhatsApp is still syncing after linking. The rest of this check continues on its own in about N min." Nothing is lost; the check finishes by itself.
Contact names come from your phone
WhatsApp delivers your address book from your phone to linked devices in its own time. If you press the manual contact pull soon after connecting and your phone has not sent anything yet, Spun says "Your phone has not sent its contacts to Spun yet. This can take a while after connecting; try again later."
Keep your phone online
Keep your phone connected to the internet while this runs. Contact names only arrive while your phone can reach WhatsApp.