Scheduling a message in WhatsApp allows you to automatically send it at a different time than when you wrote it, which is useful in many situations. But how to schedule a message in WhatsApp without using the special features of the WhatsApp application itself?
If you're using an iPhone, you can schedule WhatsApp messages using your phone's built-in Shortcuts app. All you have to do is use the automation features that are available in this app. Below we explain how to do this:
To schedule WhatsApp messages using automation:
The pre-installed app (Shortcuts) on iPhone has automation features that allow you to automate some simple tasks on your phone. You can use this feature to schedule WhatsApp messages by following these steps:
- If you are using a screen lock to protect your WhatsApp chats, please disable it first as this will prevent the Shortcuts app from accessing WhatsApp. Therefore, you may run into issues when trying to send messages automatically in WhatsApp. To disable it, open the WhatsApp application and go to the (Settings) tab, then select (Privacy), click on (Screen Lock) and uncheck “Face ID Required” or “Touch ID Required”.
When you're done, follow these steps to set up your automation:
- Open the Shortcuts app.
- Go to the Automation tab and click Create Personal Automation. If you've already created one, click the (+) symbol in the upper-right corner, then click the Create Custom Automation button.
- Select a time of day and specify when you want the automation to run in the time field.
- Set the number of times the message is sent by selecting Daily, Weekly or Monthly in the Frequency section and clicking Next.
- Click the Add Action button, go to the Apps tab, scroll down and select WhatsApp.
- Click on the option to send a message, then click on the word message and write your message.
- Click on the word “To” and enter the number of the person you want to send the message to, or click on the (+) sign and choose a contact.
- Click Next, deselect Ask before running, and choose Finish.
- Shortcuts app will automatically activate automation at specified time and send your message to selected contacts via WhatsApp.
To disable or remove automation:
If you only want the message to be sent once, you can turn off autoplay so it won't be sent again. To do this, follow these steps:
- Open the Shortcuts app and go to the Automation tab.
- Click on Automate WhatsApp messages, check the option “Enable this automation” and click (Finish) to finish.
- To delete an automation, go back to the automation menu, swipe left on the WhatsApp message automation, and tap Delete.
To set up the automation:
If you want to change or edit the automation to use it again, do the following:
- Go to the Shortcuts app and select the Automation tab.
- Select the automation you want to customize.
- If you want to change when the automation is executed, click on the time listed in the When section and make the changes.
- If you want to edit the body of the message or the recipients, click the Send message button in the Go section and edit the message or recipients.
- After making any changes, tap Done to save them and exit the Shortcuts app.