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Using WhatsApp version 2.20.207.12, YouTube version 15.47.36 on my Samsung Galaxy A30s with Android 10.

Previously (I remember this working in November) when I shared a link from YouTube in WhatsApp I'd get a preview containing an option to play the video

and clicking play would just play the video there

Recently, anytime I share a link from YouTube in WhatsApp, the message sent will only contain a link. This also happens if I use WhatsApp Web

I'm ok with not being able to play directly in WhatsApp, but how could I get a preview with at least a title pointing that the message is a video and showing its title?

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    FYI, this also happens on WhatsApp Web and Desktop. I guess YouTube did something that made WhatsApp failed to parse the link/meta-content (trying to understand under the hood of WhatsApp Web, but the code is obfuscated).
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Dec 11, 2020 at 11:09
  • @AndrewT. I cannot recall exactly if by playing in WhatsApp the video ads would still show up (could it be somehow related with that?).
    – Tiago Martins Peres
    Dec 11, 2020 at 11:25

4 Answers 4

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The best solution I could find was to adapt the URL copied in the share button

https://youtu.be/bDPczGUovzE

to

https://youtube.com/embed/bDPczGUovzE

This is basically substituting youtu.be with youtube.com/embed leaving the last part (in this video, bDPczGUovzE) untouched.

So now we can see already a preview before even sending

enter image description here

Once sending it we'll see

enter image description here

Edit

As of today this issue is already fixed and Beta users of WhatsApp can already take advantage of it.

enter image description here

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I actually asked this to their support team since this happens for last 3-4 weeks.

Their reply was this

Hi,

Thanks for your message.

We're aware of the issue and are working on fixing it in a future update of WhatsApp.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. We'll be happy to help!

My assumption is it's something related to some disagreement between Google and Facebook regarding to watching content from preview.

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Created a preview generator for this purpose , here is a link (only works for youtu.be links) : boxcubegames.github.io/ytpgen

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    Hi, I appreciate the creativity, but can you show how it works? I tried it and it only shows a preview with YouTube (www.youtube.com), but no info about the video itself.
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Dec 13, 2020 at 16:11
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    @andrew I have made a video to demonstrate , have a look and let me know if it solves your query youtu.be/JB4BPsYh0mo
    – Vibhu
    Dec 13, 2020 at 17:08
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Kudos for @Tiago Martins Peres's answer.

Optionally, on computer, you can right-click / save the YouTube video thumbnail / drag it into Whatsapp Web (which will include it as a figure) and paste the original link in the figure description.

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    Alternatively (saving a few steps), right-click and copy the image directly, then paste it on WhatsApp Web/Desktop. It will recognize the image.
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Dec 13, 2020 at 10:35

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