Hugely popular messaging app WhatsApp surprisingly doesn’t provide a desktop client. Until recently, there was no way you could have used WhatsApp on desktop, be it Linux or any other OS. WhatsApp launched a web version few months back and with this you can access WhatsApp on desktop using Google Chrome and your phone’s network connection (either phone data or WiFi).
This WhatsApp on web provided more opportunities for developers and Alexandru Rosianu did not waste time to come up with an unofficial WhatsApp desktop client for Linux, Windows and OS X. If you remember, Alexandru has previously developed Facebook Messenger for Linux desktop, which is quite popular among Facebook Messenger users.
Install WhatsApp desktop client in Linux
As stated earlier, this unofficial client is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. There are .deb binaries available for Debian based Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, elementary OS etc. You can use the link below to download it:
Download executables for WhatsApp desktop client
For other Linux distributions, you can get the source code for WhatsApp for Desktop client from the GitHub repository:
Download source code of WhatsApp desktop client
Using WhatsApp desktop client in Linux
Using it is very easy. You just have to double click on the .deb file to install the program. Once installed, just search for it in Unity Dash (for Ubuntu Unity).
You’ll see a screen like the one below to scan the QR code. This is similar to what you would have to do to use WhatsApp on web.
Once you scan the QR code, you will be connected and ready to use WhatsApp on desktop.
You’ll get desktop notification for new messages.
Conclusion
The unofficial WhatsApp desktop client is merely a wrapper for WhatsApp Web. So, you’ll have to keep your phone connected to internet anyhow to use it on desktop. Audio calling is not available on desktop but that’s also the case for WhatsApp Web. It does provide you desktop notification but I think one can get the same by enabling desktop notification in Chrome.
In my opinion, if you do not use Chrome browser, this unofficial desktop client for WhatsApp could be a good deal for you. Even if you do use Google Chrome, why not give it a try and see if you like it?
In related post, you can see these instant messaging applications for Linux that have official native desktop client.
hey i need app coz web stop when mobile not connected
That’s not possible at the moment.
Although abandoned (don’t know why), this client works great (Ubuntu). https://github.com/gsantner/Whatsie/releases
If anyone needs a WhatsApp desktop application I have a universal package for all distros that supports 32bit 64bit and ARM
can you send me the 64-bit source at [email protected], please?? Thnks!
Hi, send it me, please
[email protected]
send me please, [email protected]
You guys can download it from here, also source code is viewable in the app files
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2S_72oCP_4XSXNJUXB0WVlQWWc
I have tried the official whatsapp web app in Chrome and it works fine except that it has to be open in order to receive desktop notifications. I also tried the Chrome extension WAToolkit which is supposed to enable notifications even when the web app is closed, but at least on Ubuntu 16.04 it doesn’t work which I noticed another Ubuntu user had also pointed out. I am confused as to what is being suggested on this page, from the other comments it seems to have morphed in to Whatsie. Does anyone use Whatsie on Ubuntu and does it cope with desktop notifications?
Try my Whatsapp I made for Linux
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2S_72oCP_4XSXNJUXB0WVlQWWc