WhatsApp is, undeniably, the most widely used messaging app all over the world. Currently, it has over two billion monthly users, and so, there’s a probability you can find anyone you’re looking for on WhatsApp.
Let’s be real! WhatsApp is still lacking an important feature. You can’t send a chat to someone who’s not on your contact list, except you first save this person’s phone number.
I might decide to buy a pair of shoes from XYZ e-commerce site that has a WhatsApp number I can chat with to place an order. Having to save this company’s contact can be an unnecessary clutter to my phone book.
In this article, we’ll look at several methods for starting a WhatsApp conversation without the need to save a phone number.
Method #1 Using WhatsApp short links in the browser
WhatsApp’s click to chat feature, which is presumably intended for integration into websites and apps, uses wa.me shortcut links to begin chatting with any active WhatsApp user.
- If you want to use the feature, go to your browser and type in the address https://wa.me/phonenumber in the address bar. No modifiers like + or – or 00 should be used when typing the phone number.
- For contacts in Nigeria this would look like: https://wa.me/08075000120
- Once you click “Enter” you will be navigated to a similar page as shown below. Tap “Continue To Chat” and you will immediately be redirected to the WhatsApp personal chat of this contact.
Method #2. Using a Third party App
Just in case the first method seems too complicated, you can use a third-party app to break the barrier to chatting with a contact whose number isn’t saved in your phone book.
A very good app that I use is a Whats Direct app.
- Once you download and install the app, all you have to do is to enter the phone number and the message you want to send to the contact.
- After that tap “Send”. It will redirected to this person’s DM as a WhatsApp chat
The app doesn’t ask for permissions, but it does show ads in the interface.
Method #3. Using the shortcut app (for iPhone users)
Though method #1 where you use a wa.me link in your browser works just as well on an iPhone, there is an even better way to send a WhatsApp chat to a contact on an iPhone without having to save his or her phone number.
You can use the shortcut app to quickly enter a phone number and start chatting with the contact.
- Create a new shortcut in the shortcuts app.
- Tap add action and search to ask for input. Then press the action field and enter a number. Put a phone number on it for easy recall.
- Add another action. Set it as a variable for the second action.
- Type the same label in the first field. In this example, it’s phone number. Select input in the second field. This will guarantee that the phone number is added to the correct field.
- For the third action, choose url. Enter http://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=91 and the variable we assigned above. In this case, it’s the phone number variable. Then enter your country’s dialing code in our URL area.
- Finally, open the browser with the URL. Create a shortcut on your home screen, use spotlight search, or even use Siri to start a chat without adding a contact.
