Share via External Links

You can let users send a pre-filled message directly from your Adalo app to WhatsApp, Telegram, Google Messages (SMS), or Email using a Text Input, a Button, and a Website External Link action.

Each platform supports a URL scheme that opens the app and pre-fills a message. You can use MagicText to dynamically populate that message with content from your app.

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Video Walkthrough

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Share to WhatsApp

How It Works

Base URL format:

https://wa.me/?text=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

To send to a specific phone number, include it after wa.me/:

https://wa.me/15551234567?text=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

Phone numbers must be in full international format with no spaces, dashes, or parentheses (e.g., 15551234567 for a US number).

For more details on the URL scheme, see the WhatsApp FAQ.

Setup Steps

1. Add a Text Input -- This is where the user will type the message they want to send.

2. Add a Button to the same screen.

3. Add an External Link Action to the button:

   • Open Add Action and choose External Link.

   • Enable "Use System Browser" so the link opens directly in WhatsApp rather than Adalo's in-app browser.

   • In the URL field, use Magic Text to pull in the Text Input value:

     https://wa.me/?text=[Text Input Value]

   • To pre-set a recipient:

     https://wa.me/PHONENUMBER?text=[Text Input Value]

4. Preview and Test -- Tapping the button should open WhatsApp with your message pre-filled.

Notes

• WhatsApp must be installed on the user's device.

• Important: Enable "Use System Browser" in the External Link action. Without it, Adalo opens https:// links in an in-app browser, which may not hand off to WhatsApp correctly.

• Adalo only encodes spaces in your URL. Avoid special characters like &, #, and + in your message text, as they can break the URL.

• Sending to a specific number is not covered in the video above, but follows the same steps with the number added to the URL as shown.

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Share to Telegram

How It Works

To share a message with a URL:

https://t.me/share/url?url=YOUR_URL_HERE&text=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

To send directly to a specific Telegram user (by username):

https://t.me/USERNAME?text=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

To share a text message without a URL:

https://t.me/share/url?url=&text=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

For more details, see the Telegram Sharing Documentation.

Setup Steps

1. Add a Text Input -- This is where the user will type the message they want to share.

2. Add a Button to the same screen. Label it something like "Share on Telegram."

3. Add an External Link Action to the button:

   • Open Add Action and choose External Link.

   • Enable "Use System Browser" so the link opens directly in Telegram rather than Adalo's in-app browser.

   • In the URL field, use Magic Text based on what you want to share:

   Text message only:

   https://t.me/share/url?url=&text=[Text Input Value]

   Link from your database with a message:

   https://t.me/share/url?url=[Your Link Property]&text=[Text Input Value]

   Directly to a known Telegram username:

   https://t.me/USERNAME?text=[Text Input Value]

4. Preview and Test -- Tapping the button should open Telegram with the message or link pre-filled.

Notes

• Important: Enable "Use System Browser" in the External Link action. Without it, Adalo opens https:// links in an in-app browser, which may not redirect to the Telegram app properly.

• If Telegram is not installed, the link opens Telegram Web in the browser instead.

• Telegram uses usernames (e.g., @johndoe) rather than phone numbers for direct messaging via URL.

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Share to Google Messages (SMS)

How It Works

Base URL format (no recipient):

sms:?body=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

To send to a specific phone number:

sms:15551234567?body=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

This works across both Android and iOS. On Android it typically opens Google Messages; on iOS it opens Apple Messages.

Setup Steps

1. Add a Text Input -- This is where the user will type the message they want to send.

2. Add a Button to the same screen. Label it something like "Send as Text" or "Share via SMS."

3. Add an External Link Action to the button:

   • Open Add Action and choose External Link.

   • In the URL field, use Magic Text to pull in the Text Input value:

     sms:?body=[Text Input Value]

   • To pre-set a recipient phone number:

     sms:15551234567?body=[Text Input Value]

   • To pull the phone number dynamically from your database:

     sms:[Recipient Phone Number]?body=[Text Input Value]

4. Preview and Test -- Tapping the button should open the device's default messaging app with the message pre-filled.

Notes

• The sms: scheme opens whichever messaging app is set as default on the user's device.

• Phone numbers should be in full format with no spaces, dashes, or parentheses.

• Adalo does not apply any URL encoding to sms: links. Avoid special characters like & and # in your message text, as they can break the URL.

• This works reliably in Adalo's mobile previewer and in published apps. It may not work in desktop web preview since desktop browsers don't have a default SMS app.

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Share via Email

How It Works

Base URL format:

mailto:?subject=YOUR_SUBJECT&body=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

To send to a specific email address:

mailto:[email protected]?subject=YOUR_SUBJECT&body=YOUR_MESSAGE_HERE

Setup Steps

1. Add Text Inputs -- One for the subject line and one for the message body. You can also hardcode the subject using static text.

2. Add a Button to the same screen. Label it something like "Share via Email."

3. Add an External Link Action to the button:

   • Open Add Action and choose External Link.

   • In the URL field, use Magic Text:

     mailto:?subject=[Subject Input Value]&body=[Message Input Value]

   • To pre-set a recipient:

     mailto:[email protected]?subject=[Subject Input Value]&body=[Message Input Value]

4. Preview and Test -- Tapping the button should open the user's default email app with the fields pre-filled.

Notes

• On Android, this typically opens Gmail. On iOS, it opens Apple Mail (or whichever email app the user has set as default).

• You can add multiple recipients: mailto:[email protected],[email protected]

• CC and BCC are supported: mailto:[email protected]&[email protected]&subject=Hi&body=Hello

• Adalo does not apply any URL encoding to mailto: links. Avoid special characters like & and # in your subject or body text, as they can break the URL.

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Quick Reference

Platform	URL Format	App Required?
WhatsApp	https://wa.me/?text=MESSAGE	Yes
WhatsApp (to #)	https://wa.me/PHONE?text=MESSAGE	Yes
Telegram	https://t.me/share/url?url=URL&text=MESSAGE	No (falls back to web)
Telegram (to @)	https://t.me/USERNAME?text=MESSAGE	No (falls back to web)
SMS	sms:?body=MESSAGE	No (built-in)
SMS (to #)	sms:PHONE?body=MESSAGE	No (built-in)
Email	mailto:?subject=SUBJECT&body=MESSAGE	No (built-in)
Email (to address)	mailto:EMAIL?subject=SUBJECT&body=MESSAGE	No (built-in)

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Tips for All Platforms

• Enable "Use System Browser" for WhatsApp and Telegram. Adalo opens https:// links in an in-app browser by default, which can prevent the link from handing off to the native app. This setting is not needed for sms: or mailto: links -- those always go straight to the OS.

• URL encoding: Adalo's encoding is minimal -- it only converts spaces to %20 for https:// links, and applies no encoding at all for sms: and mailto: links. Avoid special characters like &, #, and + in your message text. Keep messages to plain text for the most reliable results.

• Web preview limitations: sms: and mailto: links may not work as expected in desktop web preview. WhatsApp and Telegram links will navigate away from the page rather than opening in a new tab. Use Adalo's mobile previewer or a published app for accurate testing.

• Magic Text: You can pull in any data from your app's database using Magic Text -- user names, listing titles, prices, links, etc. This lets you create dynamic share messages like "Check out [Product Name] for [Price]!"

• Multiple share options: Consider adding a row of buttons (one per platform) so users can choose how they want to share. Each button uses the same Text Input but with a different External Link URL.

• Dynamic phone numbers: If your app stores user phone numbers in a collection, you can use Magic Text to pull them into the WhatsApp or SMS URL instead of hardcoding a number.