Burundi WhatsApp Activity Screening Guide

What is WhatsApp Sieve Active?

“WhatsApp Screening Active” means detecting the WhatsApp account corresponding to a phone numberWhether it is in continuous use and accessible conditionto filter numbers. Filter activelyNot equal toScreening Activation: Screening activation only verifies “whether this account is registered on WhatsApp,” while Screening Activity further checks “Whether this account is used by real people and if there is recent usage.” Because WhatsApp’s “Recently Online” and “Online” statuses can be hidden by users, the screening activity results reflect the following:Observable active features, rather than the complete activity history of the account.

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What does “active” mean?

In WhatsApp business scenarios, “active” usually refers to an account meeting one or more of the following characteristics:

• There was an online record within a certain time window: For example, being online within the past 24 hours, 3 days, or 7 days;
• Account status is shown as “Available and Messages Accepted”: Not a number that has been canceled, banned, or restricted;
• There is ongoing usage behavior: Able to receive verification codes, message receipts (single or double checks), and normal network activity characteristics.

“Active” is not a field returned by an official API, but rather depends on the external status of the account (such as online status, last online time, profile picture/status update frequency, etc.)A comprehensive assessment of a business label。 Different tools define “active” differently; the “active tag” you see in AppShai represents the systemAt the current test timelineThe evaluation results of account status are subject to the actual display on the platform page.

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Active / Online / Last Seen: Don’t confuse these three concepts

These three terms are often used interchangeably, but their meanings are completely different:

Concept	The meaning of WhatsApp is this	What this might mean in terms of detection	Relationship with “sieve activity.”
Active	Business custom tags: Usage behavior over a period of time	An account isn’t a dead one; there’s a high chance someone will use it long-term	Sieve activelyOutput results
Online	The account is currently using WhatsApp	The detection instantly makes the other party’s network connection available	OneA snapshot of time, does not mean long-term activity
Last Rare (Recently Launched)	The last time the account used WhatsApp	The closer to the detection point, the higher the activity	Sieve activelyReference signalsOne of them

A number not online today does not mean it is inactive; A number online at this moment may only be open occasionally.When screening activity, you should look at the overall label, not just the state at a single moment.

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Why registering (activating) doesn’t mean being active

Many users ask: “My number already shows WhatsApp is active, why is it still filtered for active users?” ”

Because “activation” only means two things:

1. This phone numberOnceRegistered on WhatsApp;
2. This accountCurrently, it has not been banned or canceled。

In many real business scenarios, you may encounter these situations:

• After registering, users uninstall it once and don’t open it again for several months afterward;
• The number was registered on the SMS platform, but after registration, he disappeared;
• Users switch to new accounts, and the old WhatsApp account is still “alive” but is no longer used;
• After the account is banned, the number is no longer available.

Therefore,“Activated” is the static state of the account, while “active” is a dynamic behavioral signal of the account。 Only screening for open number databases often results in a much lower reach rate than expected.

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When will the screening be opened?

It is recommended to use “Screen Activation” in the following scenarios:

Scene	Purpose
For the first time, data was cleaned from the old number database	First, remove invalid and unregistered numbers to reduce costs
Verify the validity of numbers in the API or CRM	Confirm whether the WhatsApp account corresponding to the number still exists
Prepare for a one-time broadcast	As long as it can be “sent out,” it doesn’t matter whether the recipient uses it often
Mix and wash with other country numbers	First, filter out numbers without WhatsApp, then proceed to the next steps

Screening activation is part of the screening processThe first stage is the basic filter, fast speed, wide coverage.

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When is the screening active?

“Screening Active” is a more refined second filtering process and is recommended for the following scenarios:

• Secondary reach or repurchase marketing: Only contacts users who have recently used the account to avoid disturbing “dead accounts”;
• Control sending costs: WhatsApp broadcasts have frequency limits; sending them to active accounts can improve effective delivery and response rates;
• Reduce account risk: Batch messaging to long-term inactive accounts makes it easier to trigger risk controls;
• Precise customer service layering: Distinguish between “high-frequency active users” and “low-frequency users” in services;
• Clear out long-silent users: Identify numbers with no activity records for over 90 days, and consider removing them from the daily operation list.

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Is a combination of both necessary: recommending the “two-step screening method”

Recommended method: first sieve to activate, then sieve for active sieves, rather than choosing one or the other. The reason is simple:

• Screening and openingSolving the problem of “whether the number is valid”;
• The sieve is activeSolving the problem of “whether the number is worth investing resources to reach.”

A typical two-step process is as follows:

Original number database (for example, 10,000 entries)
 ↓
Step 1: Screening and opening → Remove unregistered, banned, or canceled numbers (assuming 6,500 remaining)
 ↓
Step 2: Screen for active → Identify accounts with active activity in the past 7 days from the active number (assuming 4,200 remaining).
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Ultimately: 4,200 active numbers for subsequent operations

Of course, if your budget is sufficient and you have very high reach requirements, you can directly screen for active (the results imply activation). But this will be more costly, because active checks are also performed on unactivated numbers.

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Technical limitations of “active tags” (must be understood)

To be honest, no third-party tool can directly access WhatsApp’s internal database. Active detection has the following objective boundaries:

1. Privacy set limits: WhatsApp allows users to set “Recently Online” to “No One” or “Contacts.” For these accounts, the system can only infer based on other signals (such as avatar/status update times, frequency of online statuses, etc.);
2. Detection time point differences: Active is a “Dynamic” tag. The same number showing active today may become “inactive” after three days because the user stops using it;
3. The judgment windows are differentDifferent tools define different time windows for “active” (e.g., 24 hours/7 days/30 days). Results must be determined based on the specific criteria;
4. Platform rules and constraints: Excessive detection requests may trigger WhatsApp’s temporary restrictions. Legitimate tools control the frequency of checks, but this also means large-scale inspections take time;
5. There is no such thing as “perpetually active”: Data changes over time, so it is recommended to update and filter regularly.

Don’t trust any promise of “100% accurate online time for users”—that’s technically unrealistic.

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Privacy and compliance considerations

The following content is very important, so be sure to read them:

• Compliance prerequisites: When using the screening activity feature, you must ensure the number source is legal. Common compliance scenarios include: contact information left by users, authorized CRM data, and enterprise-owned customer data. Prohibition of using illegally scraped number databases;
• No private activity data is collected: We do not, nor can we, access private data such as “what time a user opens WhatsApp each day” or “what messages they read.” Screening results are based solely on the account’s observable status characteristics;
• Avoid harassment: Even if the number is marked as “active,” it does not mean the recipient is willing to receive your messages. Please comply with WhatsApp’s business policies, send content to authorized users, and provide a way to unsubscribe;
• Do not use it to bypass restrictions: It is prohibited to use SieHuActivity for bulk harassment, malicious marketing, evading platform risk controls, or engaging in any illegal activities.

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How to Screen Active in AppShai (Example Process)

The following are examples of using AppShai for active filteringExample operating process, The specific interface is subject to the actual site display:

1. Prepare the number file: Supports formats such as CSV, TXT, Excel, one number per line, including the country area code (e.g.,8613812345678）；
2. Upload the number file toAppShai platform；
3. Select filtering platform: WhatsApp;
4. Select filter criteria:“Enable Screening”(First round) or direct selection“Active Screening”(Requires higher detection depth);
5. You can choose to overlay other dimensions, such as “Online Status Filter” or “Recent Online Time Filter”;
6. Start the filtering task and wait for the system to return the result;
7. Export result file: The file will mark each number’s activation status, active tag, and other fields. The specific output fields are based on the platform page.

Here is an example: An e-commerce team needed to clean 20,000 historical customer numbers. They first used “activation filtering” to remove 5,000 unregistered numbers, then used “active filtering” to filter out 9,000 accounts with usage behavior in the past 7 days from the remaining 15,000. In the end, these 9,000 numbers were used for new product message pushes, with an effective response rate significantly higher than the original number database. This scenario is only a process demonstration and does not represent any actual customer data.

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Checklist of Key Decisions

Quickly determine whether you need to “screen for active”:

• [ ] Was my number database obtained within the last 3 months? —If not, I suggest screening for activated accounts first and then for active users;
• [ ] Do I only care about “being able to send out” and not “whether someone is reading”? —— Just enable the selection screen;
• [ ] Am I worried about mass sending complaints or risk controls? — It is recommended to filter out active users and only reach real accounts with active user behavior;
• [ ] Does my business belong to high-value, low-frequency reach (such as B2B inquiries, financial consulting)? — Must be filtered for active users;
• [ ] Is my number database legal and authorized? —If not, please resolve compliance issues first.

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AppShai （AppShai）It is a globally leading number ecosystem processing platform, deeply integratedGlobal mobile number range coverage, batch number generation, intelligent deduplication, and multi-dimensional comparisonand other core capabilities, providing coverage for global corporate and individual clients220+ countries and regionsNumber Checking and verification services.
Currently, the system is compatible with the following mainstream social and business applications, including:
WhatsApp、LINE、Telegram、Viber、Zalo、Signal、Facebook、Messenger、Instagram、Microsoft、Binance、iMessageand more.
We will continue to develop and support more platforms, so stay tuned.

Platform features cover all-dimensional filtering scenarios, supportedEnable filtering, active filtering, interaction filtering, gender filtering, avatar filtering, age filtering, online status filtering, precise tag filtering, online duration filtering, power-on detection filtering, blank number filtering, mobile device model filteringand more, meeting a wide range of business needs from basic to in-depth levels.

We offerSelf-service screening model, agency operation screening model, refined tiered model, and customized solution model, flexibly adapting to different usage scenarios for individual developers, small and medium-sized teams, and large multinational corporations.

The core advantage lies inOne-stop integration of global mainstream application ecosystems, delivering real-time high-precision screening results, helping you significantly reduce customer acquisition costs and improve global digital operational efficiency.