Whatsie is a simple & beautiful desktop client (unofficial) for WhatsApp Web. It’s and open-source, cross-platform software works on OS X, Windows, and Linux.
This tutorial will show you how to install a third-party WhatsApp Linux Client called Whatsie on Debian 8, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Linux Mint 18. Whatsie is a simple but beautiful desktop client built on Electron. It’s a wrapper for WhatsApp Web, available for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.
Besides all the WhatsApp Web features, it also features:
- Themes & Mini Mode
- Native Notifications (with reply on OS X)
- Spell Checker & Auto Correct (English)
- Keyboard Shortcuts
How to Install Whatsie in Ubuntu:
Pre-compiled binary packages are available for download in its release page (see the link below), select download:
whatsie-x.x.x-linux-amd64.deb
for 64-bit Ubuntuwhatsie-x.x.x-linux-i386.deb
for 32-bit Ubuntu
from:
Download the latest Whatsie (.deb)
Then click install via Ubuntu Software, or run command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
Once the software is successfully installed, launch it from Unity Dash (App Launcher), scan the QR code via WhatsApp in your mobile phone, and enjoy chatting with your friends.
If you like Whatsie and want to receive future updates along with other system updates via Software Updater, add the Linux repository by running the commands below one by one in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
(Optional) To remove the software, use Synaptic Package Manager (available in Ubuntu Software), or run apt
command in terminal via remove
flag:
And the Linux repository can be removed via System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software -> highlight and remove the repository line.
Update: This app doesn’t exist anymore and the app website now redirects to a scam website. This is the reason why I am removing all the links to the website. Please use the WhatsApp Web or an application like Franz.
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 a few months back and with this, you can access WhatsApp on the desktop using Google Chrome and your phone’s network connection (either phone data or WiFi).
This WhatsApp on web provided more opportunities for developers聽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,聽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 a 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 the desktop. Audio calling is not available on the 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 a related post, you can see these instant messaging applications for Linux that have an official native desktop client.