WhatsApp links now require that you share your contacts in order to work

Privacy and Security News
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I hate WhatsApp, but I am forced to occasionally use it for work and interact with businesses. Years ago, I decided to stop sharing my contacts with WhatsApp to limit the amount of data they got from me. That used to mean that people often had to text me first, because I couldn’t initiate a chat with a new contact without sharing my contacts with Meta.

That’s when WhatsApp links came in handy.

CHAT FUEL: A WhatsApp link is a clickable URL that lets people start a chat with you instantly, without saving your number to their contacts. It uses the WhatsApp click-to-chat feature, which opens a conversation with just one tap.

The basic format is: https://wa.me/, followed by your phone number in international format (no dashes, spaces or plus signs). For example : https://wa.me/15551234567.

I’ve been using WhatsApp links for years. Every time I needed to initiate a chat with a new contact for work, I would simply send myself their WhatsApp contact link on the app and just click it.

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However, last night after I updated the app, I noticed that WhatsApp links no longer work. When I click on them, I get this popup:

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This doesn’t make any sense, because WhatsApp links are meant to be used for people who are not already in your contact app, so why would they need access to it?

Web app still works

I have noticed that on web, WhatsApp links still work, I guess because there are no contacts to give away from a web browser on a computer.

But this is really annoying. I really hope this is a bug and that WhatsApp fixes it. I use Android, so I don’t have any contacts saved on my phone because I don’t want to share that with Google or any other app. But even so, this is frustrating.

Alternative option

Beside using the web app, I have discovered a universal workaround. If I just send myself a number with the country code and no URL, it still works.

E.g.: +15551234564

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Doesn’t seem to be the case on iOS yet.
But I get the same on my android when trying to add a new chat outside of the search button and it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple was still “reviewing” it.

For context Android is my main device and iOS is added as a linked device.

Another possible workaround in sharing the embedded link for the QR code linked to your account. But I don’t know whether it stays the same.

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I’m so glad I got out of that slop! Goodness gracious did I know it was encrappifying, without realizing it was going to feces.

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i think this is really bad move.

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In mobiles you can download an app “click to chat” it is whatsapp’s app, where you can initiate chat with a number without syncing.

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I know an app exactly like that, but on F-Droid (And it actually has its source code open)

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Lauch Chat on fdroid works well yeah

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