The ability to send a message on WhatsApp without saving the number in your contact list lacks on Whatsapp as a feature, but there are several ways to go around this issue.
Every so often you might want to reach out to a business or individual through Whatsapp for a one-time chat but adding the number to your phonebook could mean needless clutter. Let’s take a look at a few ways to start a WhatsApp chat without adding a phone number as a contact.
Read also: How to Use WhatsApp Web on your PC & Mac 2021
1. Launch a chat from the browser using WhatsApp short links
Simply head over to your browser and type out the address https://wa.me/phonenumber. The phone number field should include the country and region code as well, but remove any zeros, brackets, or dashes(+ or – or 00). For example, if you’re in Uganda, the syntax would be https://wa.me/256XXXXXXXXX
Tap Enter and WhatsApp will point you to a website with a green message button. Tapping this button will drop you into the chat.
2. How to text a WhatsApp number without saving it on an iPhone Using Shortcuts App
Apple’s Shortcuts app can quickly and easily run a host of tasks on your iPhone-lets you set up a quick access way to input a phone number and get chatting right away.
While the first method of using a wa.me link in the browser works just fine on an iPhone as well, there’s an even better way to WhatsApp chat without saving contact numbers on iOS.
- Head over to the shortcuts app and create a new shortcut.
- For the first action, tap add action and search for ask for input.
- Once selected, tap the action field and set it to ask for a number. Assign it an easy-to-remember label like phone number.
- Now add a second action. For the second action, you’ll need to set it as a variable. In the first field, type out the same label as above. In this case, it will be called phone number. In the second field, select provided input. This will ensure the phone number, once added in, will be assigned to the specific field.
- For our third action, select the url option. In the url field, enter http://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=256 and follow it up with the variable we assigned above. In this case, it will be the variable called phone number. Don’t forget to replace the 256 in your URL field with your country’s dialing code.
- Finally, the fourth action is to launch the browser with the URL.
You can now add the shortcut to the home screen, launch it from spotlight search or even use Siri to launch a chat without adding the contact.
