Limits and troubleshooting
What the extension deliberately cannot do, why the one click per tab is unavoidable, and what to check when a recording is missing.
What it cannot do
- Record without being switched on for that tab. Chrome does not permit it — see below.
- Record a call made in the WhatsApp desktop client or on a phone. It records a Chrome tab.
- Record more than one call at a time. Two WhatsApp tabs both ringing will record the first.
- Keep video. A video call’s audio is captured; no picture is kept.
- Send anything anywhere. There is no server, no account and no sync between your machines.
- Score, review or share. For that you want Qualitify itself.
If what you actually need is a team’s calls recorded, reviewed and scored — including calls made on phones — that is Qualitify, and the extension is not a substitute for it.
Why one click per tab
The question everybody asks, so it is worth answering properly rather than apologising for.
Capturing a tab’s audio requires Chrome’s activeTab permission, which is granted only when the person invokes the extension on that tab. Opening the popup is what grants it. There is no setting, no flag and no trick that removes this — it is the protection that stops an extension silently listening to every tab you open, and it exists for good reason.
After the switch is on, everything is automatic: calls are detected, recorded and saved with no further interaction, until the tab is closed or reloaded. A reload revokes the grant, which is why it has to be turned on again afterwards.
Be sceptical of extensions that claim otherwise
An extension advertising fully automatic WhatsApp call recording with no interaction at all is either describing this same one-click behaviour loosely, or has permissions far broader than recording calls requires. Worth checking what it asks for.
When a recording is missing
| What you see | Usually because | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing recorded at all | The switch is off for that tab, or the tab was reloaded | Open the popup and check it says “Watching for calls” |
| Only the other person is audible | The microphone was never allowed | Open the settings page and allow it there — it cannot be granted from the popup |
| Only you are audible | Tab capture failed, usually because the switch was turned on mid-call | Turn it on before the call starts |
| A Save As box on every call | “Ask where to save each file” is on in Chrome | Turn it off in chrome://settings/downloads |
| The call is not recorded but was answered | It was answered in a different tab, or in the desktop client | Record in the tab you armed |
| Very short junk files | Detection flickered at the edge of a call | Raise the minimum length on the settings page |
| The other person is doubled, slightly delayed | Speakers rather than headphones | Use a headset |
The call recorded but something is wrong with the audio
You cannot hear the other person during the call
This should not happen and is worth reporting. Capturing a tab normally takes its audio out of the speakers, so the extension routes it back — if that ever fails, the symptom is a call you cannot hold. Turn the switch off, which restores normal playback immediately.
The recording is silent
Both sources failed. Check the microphone is allowed on the settings page, and that the switch was on before the call started rather than during it.
The far end is quiet
Unlike the Android app, this should not be quiet — the tab gives the other person cleanly. If they are faint, their own connection or microphone was the problem rather than the recording.
After a WhatsApp change
The extension detects calls by reading the WhatsApp Web interface, because WhatsApp provides no way to be told that a call has started. A redesign can therefore break detection, and the symptom is specific: calls stop being recorded while everything else looks healthy.
If that happens, it is not something you can configure around — write to support@qualitify.net and say when it stopped, and take the update when it appears.
Your recordings are yours
- Files are in your Downloads folder and nowhere else. Deleting them deletes them.
- Nothing is uploaded, synced or backed up. If the machine is lost, so are the recordings.
- Uninstalling the extension does not remove recordings you have already saved.
- There is no retention period and nothing expires — housekeeping is entirely yours.
This is the trade-off with the free tool
No server means nothing to breach and nothing to pay for. It also means no backup, no audit log of who played what, and no way to review a colleague’s call. For one person keeping their own records that is the right bargain; for a team that needs those things, it is not.
Getting help
Write to support@qualitify.net. Useful to include:
- Your Chrome version, from chrome://version.
- Whether the popup said “Watching for calls” before the call started.
- Whether the badge appeared at the top of the WhatsApp page during the call.
- Whether the microphone shows as allowed on the settings page.
- Whether this is every call or only some, and what the working ones have in common.
The extension is free and unsupported in the contractual sense, but we read the mail and detection problems get fixed because they affect everybody using it. A Qualitify customer with a support question should mention their company, which puts it in a different queue.