I wrote this bookmarklet to start a chat with a non-phonebook WhatsApp contact… a long time back. I prefer to use this instead of those third-party services that are also essentially doing the same thing but with the over-head of trusting them.
javascript: (function () {
var url = "https://web.whatsapp.com/send?phone=";
var phoneNumber = prompt("Enter a phone number (with the country code):");
window.open(url + phoneNumber);
})();
You can drag this link into your bookmarks toolbar instead if you’d like, and then give it a name of your choice if you’d like: Start a WhatsApp chat.
For mobile usage.
Bhavin Gandhi uses a small tweak to have this function on mobile: the web
subdomain changes to api
:
Right now I have bookmarked the api.whatsapp.com/send?phone= URL and I add phone number to it before visiting that site. [It] gives [me an] option to launch WhatsApp.
Bhavin on Mastodon on June 9, 2021
The corresponding bookmarklet, then, becomes:
javascript: (function () {
var url = "https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=";
var phoneNumber = prompt("Enter a phone number (with the country code):");
window.open(url + phoneNumber);
})();
Joel also has a smart tip:
I actually added the URL to the keyboard dictionary, a few letters and the suggestion appears. I used your original code and changed “web” with “api”
Joel on Mastodon on June 9, 2021
It’s not often I need this, but it’s nice when for those rare moments you do.
Last updated on June 14, 2021. Join the discussion on Mastodon or Twitter, or write me an email.