Desktop app
The WhatsApp 24-hour window
WhatsApp Business lets you reply freely for 24 hours after a customer messages you. Here's what that means in Cradle and what to do when the window closes.
Important
WhatsApp is in private beta. We expect a general release of WhatsApp in mid-2026.
WhatsApp Business runs on a rule set by Meta, not Cradle: once a customer messages your business, you have 24 hours to reply with anything you like. After 24 hours of silence from them, the window closes and you can't send free-form messages until the customer messages again.
How the window works
The clock is on the customer's side. Every new inbound message resets it.
- A customer sends you a WhatsApp message. The 24-hour reply window opens.
- You can send back and forth freely for 24 hours. Any text, any number of messages.
- The customer replies again. The clock resets. You have another 24 hours from that reply.
- The customer goes quiet. When 24 hours have passed since their last message, the window closes.
- You message them. While the window is open, that's fine. Once it's closed, the compose box disables until the customer messages first.
What Cradle shows you
Inside the Cradle desktop app, the compose box stays open while the 24-hour window is active. When the window expires, the compose box disables and Cradle shows a banner explaining why. You'll see the conversation history, but you can't send a new message until the customer comes back.
What to do when the window has closed
You have two paths:
- Wait for the customer to message you. As soon as they send anything, a new 24-hour window opens and you can reply freely again. For client conversations that go quiet for a few days, this is usually the right answer.
- Reach them on another channel. A phone call, an SMS to their mobile, or an email all sit outside the WhatsApp window. Use whichever fits the conversation.
WhatsApp message templates are the mechanism for re-opening a closed window with a pre-approved structured message. Cradle's template support ships at general release (mid-2026 expected); see About WhatsApp message templates.
Why this exists
WhatsApp Business is built around customer-initiated conversations. The 24-hour rule keeps the channel from being used for unsolicited outreach. It applies to every business on WhatsApp Business, not just Cradle customers.
A worked example
Olivia Carter at Carter Bookkeeping messages your firm on WhatsApp on Tuesday morning with a question about her quarterly return. You reply in the afternoon, she comes back the next morning with a follow-up, and you trade a few messages over the next two days. Every message resets the 24-hour clock.
She's then quiet over the weekend. By Monday morning the window has been closed since Sunday afternoon. You want to confirm the figures, but the compose box is disabled. You ring her instead, leave a voicemail, and she messages you on WhatsApp later that afternoon to say thanks. A new 24-hour window opens and you can pick the conversation back up.