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The Twilio API for WhatsApp
- pbiggar 8y agoSmart. I'm amazed that there isn't one for iMessage as well. Most of the world has replaced SMS with either iMessage or Whatsapp, would be great to have both.
- francislavoie 8y agoWell, you can yell at Apple to get that to exist. Good luck.
- jimmyspice 8y agoSee your sibling post
- firloop 8y agoI wouldn't be surprised if Twilio gets into this soon as well, since Apple is opening up the iMessage platform. https://www.apple.com/ios/business-chat/ https://www.apple.com/ios/business-chat/
- Nightshaxx 8y agoDamn that's actually pretty interesting.
- brazzledazzle 8y agoApple is making a lot of promises like access to a person which makes me think they’ll be curating this, at least for a while.
- jcampbell1 8y agoAs a digital nomad that swaps sim cards for cheap data, this is good news. I hope most business adopt a WhatsApp option. IME most developing nations have 10+Mbps LTE for $3 GB and useless wifi. International roaming is crap because you need to be on the right network depending on the town.
- StudentStuff 8y agoWhy not just get a VOIP OTT app so you have a stable phone number to be reached at?
- philg_jr 8y agostill would need to swap sim cards for different providers as you nomad around.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoHopefully this becomes unnecessary in a few years as the eSIM standard moves along, and your SIM is virtual (and multiple operator "SIMs" can be provisioned on a device). https://www.gsma.com/esim/ https://www.gsma.com/esim/
- xur17 8y agoI am really looking forward to prepaid providers offering this. Recently when I was in Canada for a few days, and was stuck on a slow international data plan through TMobile, I would have paid $10 or $20 for an eSIM if it was as easy as downloading an app.
- jcampbell1 8y agoI make zero calls, people know to reach me by whatsapp, except say Citibank which sends a fraud check by SMS which I cant respond to and my credit card gets shutdown. I don't want a stupid Google voice like app, and it all goes to hell when porting a number. WhatsApp is so reliable. iMessage goes to hell unless you put +XX country codes for all of your contacts.
- asadlionpk 8y agoWhatsApp has a public API? Or is this a partnership?
- polote 8y agoWhatsapp is currently opening API to few partners https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000648/Growing-our-Tools-for-Business https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000648/Growing-our-Tools-for-Bus...
- lucideer 8y agoWhatsApp has a business plan[0] that includes API access. [0] https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/general/26000067 https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/general/26000067
- tnolet 8y agoI guess AWS will be next. Would be great to have as an SNS destination.
- astatine 8y agoInteresting business model indeed if this article https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/01/whatsapp-business-api/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/01/whatsapp-business-api/ is to be believed. Though the part of a business only being able to respond to customer initiated messages doesn't seem right - I, even now, get WhatsApp messages from bookmyshow and makemytrip (movie and travel booking portals in India) for bookings done, without me ever sending them a WhatsApp message. They were a part of the early adopter program. And the Twilio API also offers to send unsolicited messages for a fee ($0.0075 it looks like).
- pdesh08 8y agoPranav from Twilio here. You're right — businesses can contact users first, provided they only use message templates pre-approved by WhatsApp.The article gets that wrong. The messages MMT or BMS have sent you so far should be according to these templates. Also, businesses can not send unsolicited messages though - users have to opt-in to receiving messages from them. You probably did that when you gave them your WhatsApp number after buying a ticket or a flight.
- function_seven 8y agoHow is the opt-in requirement enforced in the API? Some sort of ticket or per-user authorization hash?
- alexcnwy 8y agoAny word on pricing?
- flankstaek 8y ago[Removed]
- andrewtorkbaker 8y agoHey there - I lead Twilio's documentation team. There's nothing worse than frustrating docs, I'm sorry ours are coming up short for you. I'd love to talk more about it and hear how we can serve you better. And it looks like you work with Django a lot? So do I - maybe I can help if you've got a specific project in mind. My email is abaker@twilio.com - would love to talk more about all of this.
- yumaikas 8y ago> Users increasingly want to talk to businesses the same way they talk with their friends and family. Citation needed, IMO. I hardly speak for most users, but if I had to guess, it's far more that businesses want to speak to users the same way that users talk to their friends and family, rather than the other way around. Not that this doesn't sound pretty neat, but I'm super curious where the demand from users to connect with businesses via WhatsApp is.
- EwanToo 8y agoIf I want to get a problem sorted with my home ISP I need to call them and spend ages on hold, or use their poor online chat service and have much less disruption to my time. Using WhatsApp rather than a browser based system for the chat would be a much slicker client experience.
- dbspin 8y agoThat's actually a good use case. User initiated chat with business certainly has its uses. Business instigated conversations with users however...
- StudentStuff 8y agoAppointment reminders can be useful though!
- mbesto 8y ago> I'm super curious where the demand from users to connect with businesses via WhatsApp is. Simple -> WeChat and the Chinese market is the only citation you need. Your argument is probably then "but that's China" and I think that's basically the point of offering this...to test it in WhatsApp's markets where WeChat doesn't have dominance.
- simaracode 8y agoWhatsapp is massive outside the US and China, the rest of the world communicates with it. No other competitor comes nearly close.
- _wmd 8y agoBack when I was a WhatsApp user, I for one enjoyed the refreshing total absence of notification spam. If I got a ping, it was because a real person I know had something to say. Just a cold, focused person-person messaging app. Even Facebook could not top that Opening the floodgates to cron jobs dilutes the value of the service for me, and forces WhatsApp down my list of priorities along with SMS - which I haven't had notifications enabled for in many years, because in almost every case the messages are effectively an abuse of time and attention.
- gregorymichael 8y agoGreg from Twilio here. Totally understand your concern -- no one wants more spam. WhatsApp currently requires that brands using this API collect explicit opt-in from users prior to messaging them, and also that they also use pre-approved message templates to reach out to customers. Free-form messages can only be sent if the user replies back, and then only for 24 hours. Curious, why'd you stop using WhatsApp?
- zamalek 8y ago> Curious, why'd you stop using WhatsApp? I assume Facebook. I'm trying to get everyone I know off of it for that reason. Have you considered Signal or Telegram as additional integrations?
- Calvin02 8y agoTelegram has security issues [0]. WhatsApp and Signal both use the Signal protocol [1]. [0] https://gizmodo.com/why-you-should-stop-using-telegram-right-now-1782557415 https://gizmodo.com/why-you-should-stop-using-telegram-right... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Protocol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Protocol
- gregorymichael 8y agoBoth of those are great channels (I personally use Signal), but we have nothing to announce.
- segmondy 8y agoHow much will it cost? It needs to be much cheaper than SMS. SMS adds up fast.
- Jtsummers 8y agohttps://www.twilio.com/whatsapp/pricing/us https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp/pricing/us Looks like it'll also add up fast.
- sgt 8y ago$0.0135 per message. That's almost like SMS, to be honest.
- Operyl 8y agoBut extremely cheap compared to the markets they're targeting. SMS is expensive in countries outside of the US, and that's why WhatsApp is so widely used.
- thebigspacefuck 8y agoIs it cheaper than the same functionality in WhatsApp's business API? https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/api/messages https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/api/messages
- Operyl 8y agoUnknown, it's not currently public pricing afaict. Probably behind an NDA or variable,
- qilo 8y ago$0.0135 per message is for messages to US numbers only. E.g. price to Belgium is a whooping $0.1010 per message.
- aviv 8y ago
- CiPHPerCoder 8y agoDoes Twilio handle the end-to-end encryption on behalf of its users? If so, they can still be intercepted or modified at the API level.
- gregorymichael 8y agoGreg from Twilio here. This is a great question, and we can do a better job describing what’s happening here. Messages are encrypted between your users and Twilio using WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption. Your requests to Twilio are secure with our HTTPS REST API. You can also redact your messages on Twilio for even greater privacy. Appreciate you highlighting this. We’re working on getting the copy updated on our website to be more clear.
- StavrosK 8y agoWhy is this priced the same as SMS? How does WhatsApp allow it? Why does it only allow Twilio? Is there an API I can connect to directly?
- TYPE_FASTER 8y agohttps://blog.whatsapp.com/10000648/Growing-our-Tools-for-Business https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000648/Growing-our-Tools-for-Bus...
- rsync 8y agoCan I access whatsapp messaging from a twiml bin, or do I have to host a script on a third party somewhere ? I really, really like using twiml bins because no third party or hosting is required - the code resides on, and runs on, twilio ...
- gregorymichael 8y agoYou can use TwiML Bins! Also, have you tried Functions? It's like TwiML Bins, but with more JavaScript. https://www.twilio.com/console/runtime/functions/ https://www.twilio.com/console/runtime/functions/
- cphoover 8y ago(aws lambdas with twilio sdk baked in)
- Orlan 8y agoIs this for businesses only, or can individuals with a Twilio account also make use of this API?
- gregorymichael 8y agoGreg from Twilio here. Right now it's for businesses only. Any developer can use Twilio's sandbox, but to ship to production you'll need a verified WhatsApp Business account.
- thebigspacefuck 8y agoIs this against Facebook/WhatsApp's policy to use this as a business? From: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/overview https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/overview "Please note that if you use anything other than the official WhatsApp Business API or other official WhatsApp tools, we reserve the right to limit or remove your access to WhatsApp as this violates our policies. Please do not use any non-WhatsApp authorized third-party tools to communicate on WhatsApp."
- philtar 8y agoThis changed 24 hours ago.
- thebigspacefuck 8y agoThey just added that language 24 hours ago?
- walski 8y agoCan business accounts on WhatsApp be part of groups?
- gregorymichael 8y agoGreg from Twilio here. The API doesn't currently support groups. It's a big feature request though.
- jpeeler 8y agoI can't take my eyes off the rotating 3d code gif and am wondering how something like that was made.
- gregorymichael 8y agoGreg from Twilio here. We are fortunate to have a guy on our Brand team, Aaron, who is very good with video.
- zhovner 8y agoWhatsapp is so ugly and stupid messenger: 1. Desktop client is a proxy for mobile app. If phone goes offline, desktop client is disconnect. 2. You can't add contact from desktop client. So if you use whatsapp for business, you need a phone right right next to desktop PC and every time switching between phone and desktop. 3. Only local contact list and only one device. If we have few managers that uses WhatsApp for sales or tech support, we can't share one account for few PC's. 4. Impossible to logout from mobile app. To logout on iOS you need to delete WhatsApp and then install it again. 5. No chat logs on the server. You need to backup your chat's INTO THE FILE and then move it to another device. 6. Only one device! You can't simultaneously use whatsapp on phone and tablet. I can continue this list very long. So I do not understand why this crap is so popular?
- diegorbaquero 8y agoPopularity, if all your family and friends have it, it's hard to move all that to a new platform.
- wiradikusuma 8y agoI'm really hoping that WhatsApp would open their (chatbot) API to devs soon, following Facebook Messenger, Telegram, LINE, Kik, etc. This Twilio API for WhatsApp is more suitable for s/spammers/marketers, because it will be prohibitively expensive for casual chat.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- flibble 8y agoYour pricing is fu*ked. >9c to Germany, >7c to Ireland, > 8c to France, nearly 10c to Netherlands. More expensive than SMS.