I'm using Whatsapp Click-to-chat functionality, without a phone number. It previously worked but with the new Chrome version 76.0.3809.132, both on iOS and Android is not working anymore. On Android, it's showing a Toast with Couldn't open link. Tried contacting Whatsapp Support but no answer as of yet. With the latest update their own documentation example is not working, link to docs. Any suggestions or experiences?
Link example:
<a target="_blank" href="https://wa.me/?text=Villa%20stone%20road%20piece%2015%20meters%20from%20the%20asphalt%20street" title="Share on WhatsApp">
Error picture Imgur: picture
A table with my tested devices and versions on Imgur
It seems that chrome does not accept click to chat without a number specified. Once there's a number in the URL it works just fine.
Unfortunately I did not find a hack to get around it. Neither of this worked:
https://wa.me//?text=Hello%20World
https://wa.me/0/?text=Hello%20World
only if a proper number is specified it will open WhatsApp, but has the recipient already pre selected (the number we provide).
I tested it for a client about 2 weeks ago, when it still worked. So the last update of Chrome (from Aug 26) seems to be the problem...