Are you looking for WhatsApp for Linux that gives you all the features akin to the official desktop app by Meta? Here’s how to get it.
There is no denying Linux operating systems give a conducive environment for working. The OS just stays out of your way, giving you the peace and brain bandwidth to focus on only your work.
That is more than what can be said of Windows and, to some extent, macOS. These two have a lot of background activities and popups, which not only take a toll on hardware resources but keep distracting you from your main work.
Not to mention, Linux is typically a lightweight operating system (OS). That translates to a faster-running computer. You can take an old beat-up computer and install a Linux OS, and it will run as swiftly as a new computer.
However, you cannot run either Windows or macOS on hardware (computer) three years older. You will immediately notice the system lags and freezes. One would be forgiven to think both Microsoft and Apple intentionally designs their latest OS to discriminate against legacy hardware. The end goal is you spending money easy two-three years on a new computer.
WhatsApp for Linux
Being an open-source platform, there are a plethora of third-party apps trying to give Linux users the same WhatsApp experience you can get on macOS and Windows. However, these bootleg WhatsApp for Linux are often quite buggy and don’t always act right all the time.
Innov8tiv has come against another third-party app that promises to address some of these bugs. The unofficial Flatpak desktop app promises to address all these flaws. The app promises:
- Make video and voice WhatsApp calls from your Linux computer
- Share files
- Send and receive messages
The issue with the majority of WhatsApp for Linux alternatives available for Linux is the ability to make and receive video and voice calls. However, with the Flatpak desktop app, this ability has been quite tweaked up.
The app also gives you a lot of keyboard shortcuts when navigating various functionality on the WhatsApp desktop app.
How to install Flatpak on Linux
This application is designed using C++. For those of you who love delving into the geeky details, you can check out its code on GitHub. When setting this system up on your Linux PC, the first thing you need to do is to set up the Flatpak and Flathub environment.
More details on setting up on this link. After installation, run the following command line code in your Terminal to install WhatsApp for Linux.
flatpak install com.github.eneshecan.WhatsAppForLinux
Now run the WhatsApp for Linux app and sign in as you would on WhatsApp for desktop.
