projectswhatsapp util no more add

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Whatsapp Util: NO MORE ADD!

I hate adding people to talk with them

Fig. 1

NoMoreAdd is a simple utility app for desktop that allows you to talk with people on WhatsApp without having to add them. That is it. That is the whole product. And yet, for some reason, the people who used it liked it a lot.

It has three versions: the browser version, the console version and finally the desktop version for Windows. The version in the image beside it is the desktop one, and probably the last one, since the motivation for making it is no longer here. That is a strange sentence to write about a project. Usually projects die because we get bored or because the technology changes. This one died because the problem went away, which is, honestly, the best possible ending for a utility.

The motivation

During the most restrictive phase of the pandemic, everyone was working from home. I was needing to add every single client and friend that I made online just to be able to talk to them, and I was getting pissed off. It was a small thing, but it was a small thing happening twenty-five times a day, which is how small things become big things.

So I decided that it was the time to act. I put on my gloves, tightened up my shoes, settled into my chair and started to code. The idea was to create an app that could launch WhatsApp already in the chat I wanted with just one click. No contact saved, no "hey, who is this?", no adding someone to my contacts just to answer a question about a deadline. Surprisingly, it ended up being so useful that I decided to make a desktop C# version and stuck with it for more than a year.

The three lives

Fig. 2 - The desktop version in its dark layout.
Fig. 3 - The same desktop version in the light layout. Personally, I am a hater.

The browser version was the first. It was a small page where you typed a name and a number, validated the fields, cleaned the input and generated a wa.me link. It was simple and good enough.

The console version came next, as a prototype for the desktop app. It is C#, it runs in a terminal, and it does exactly what it says. It was my way of testing the idea in a different language before committing to a UI. I have a soft spot for console versions. They are honest and I have a strong appreciation for dark screens with little text written on them. So functional...

The desktop version was the final form. It had a proper UI, my own design made in Illustrator ( and ) and a release schedule that said the beta would arrive around January 2022. It was a work in progress, and it stayed a work in progress, but it was a work in progress that the (few) people actually used.

Where it lives now

The repositories for this project are spread across three versions:

I do not know if I will ever touch it again. The motivation is gone, the pandemic is in the past, and WhatsApp has changed a lot since then. But I am glad it exists. It is a reminder that a good utility does not need to be big. It needs to remove one specific annoyance from your day, and then it can retire in peace.