Sending message to WhatsApp from your app using Swift?

Question

For one of my app, I wanted to share data to WhatsApp contacts. I tried few solutions overs the StackOverflow but couldn't get exact solution. After some trials could achieve what I was looking for, so sharing here for anyone's future reference.

Answer 1

 var url  = NSURL(string: "whatsapp://send?text=Hello%20Friends%2C%20Sharing%20some%20data%20here...%20!")

//Text which will be shared on WhatsApp is: "Hello Friends, Sharing some data here... !"

    if UIApplication.sharedApplication().canOpenURL(url!) {
        UIApplication.sharedApplication().open(url as URL, options: [:]) { (success) in
                if success {
                    print("WhatsApp accessed successfully")
                } else {
                    print("Error accessing WhatsApp")
                }
            }
    }

Note: text needs to be URL encoded. You can get it using any of the open source tools over internet or using addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters:) function in iOS. e.g.

var urlString = "Hello Friends, Sharing some data here... !"
var urlStringEncoded = urlString.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: NSCharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed)
var url  = NSURL(string: "whatsapp://send?text=\(urlStringEncoded!)")

Answer 2

Swift 5

Code

let urlWhats = "whatsapp://send?text=\("Hello World")"
if let urlString = urlWhats.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: NSCharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed) {
      if let whatsappURL = NSURL(string: urlString) {
            if UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(whatsappURL as URL) {
                 UIApplication.shared.open(whatsappURL as URL)
             } 
             else {
                 print("please install watsapp")
             }
      }
}

Answer 3

Swift 3.0

Try with this code for access watsapp in your application. Its working perfectly for me.

@IBAction func sendButtonAction(_ sender: Any)
{
    let date = Date()
    let msg = "Hi my dear friends\(date)"
    let urlWhats = "whatsapp://send?text=\(msg)"

    if let urlString = urlWhats.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: NSCharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed) {
        if let whatsappURL = NSURL(string: urlString) {
            if UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(whatsappURL as URL) {
                UIApplication.shared.openURL(whatsappURL as URL)
            } else {
                print("please install watsapp")
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

Addition to above solutions, starting from iOS 9, we need to add whatsapp to LSApplicationQueriesSchemes key in info.plist. After this only it worked for me.

Answer 5

My code is Looking Like this

let encodeQuizStr = "Check Out The Quiz With link \n http://www.proprofs.com "

        let urlQuizStringEncoded = encodeQuizStr.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: NSCharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed)

        guard let whatsAppUrl = NSURL(string: "whatsapp://send?text="+urlQuizStringEncoded!) else { return }

        if UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(whatsAppUrl as URL) {

            if #available(iOS 10.0, *) {
                print(urlQuizStringEncoded!)
                UIApplication.shared.open(whatsAppUrl as URL, options: [:], completionHandler: nil)
            } else {

                UIApplication.shared.openURL(whatsAppUrl as URL)

            }
        }
        else{


            ProjectUtility.AlertWith(self, message: " What's App is Not Available.", Title: "Sorry")
        }

working fine But When I put This URL

("http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=pq-find-out-which-ice-age-character-you-are ")

Then Its Not Working Please Check Thanks.HelpWill Be Appriciated.

Answer 6

Swift 5

Please follow the below steps for sharing on WhatsApp through URL Schemes

1. Add this code in your app "info.plist"

<key>LSApplicationQueriesSchemes</key>
<array>
  <string>whatsapp</string>
</array>

2. For sharing text and URL

Code

    @IBAction func whatsappShareText(_ sender: AnyObject) {

    
        let message = "First Whatsapp Share & https://www.google.co.in"
        var queryCharSet = NSCharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed
        
        // if your text message contains special characters like **+ and &** then add this line
        queryCharSet.remove(charactersIn: "+&")
        
        if let escapedString = message.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: queryCharSet) {
            if let whatsappURL = URL(string: "whatsapp://send?text=\(escapedString)") {
                if UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(whatsappURL) {
                    UIApplication.shared.open(whatsappURL, options: [: ], completionHandler: nil)
                } else {
                    debugPrint("please install WhatsApp")
                }
            }
        }
    }

Happy Coding!

Answer 7

As per their FAQ, you should be using the universal links instead:

https://wa.me/1234567890

Reference: https://faq.whatsapp.com/563219570998715/?locale=en_US