Sending message to WhatsApp from your app using Swift? - ios

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
Add this code in your app "info.plist"
<key>LSApplicationQueriesSchemes</key>
<array>
<string>whatsapp</string>
</array>
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