I have to admit that I would like things to be different, but they are as they are. In countries where SMS is free, there are people who communicate with them using the default Messages application, and even more so if they use a device that allows them to send rich messages RCS (Rich Communication Service). But this is not the case in all countries, and in many, including Spain, we have to use what is available. The most used around here is that messaging application that Meta (formerly Facebook) bought for billions, and here we will explain how to install whatsapp on ubuntu.
I like to be honest and avoid creating content that can be labeled "clickbait." It is also not my intention to waste people's time, so if the question that motivates you to search for something like "whatsapp ubuntu" in Google is how you can install WhatsApp on Ubuntu, a real installation of a real desktop application I would recommend that you stop reading this article. It's not that we don't know how to install something; Meta simply hasn't released anything official for Linux, and everything that can be used here is no more than a version of WhatsApp Web.
For trying, let it not be...
Articles like this one are written and published on a certain date, but are intended to be timeless. Therefore, the first thing I would like to do is talk about an option that currently does not work. oh yes, because can be installed, but right now it's not worth it, because you have to pull WINE and options like video calls don't work.
What we would have to do is take advantage of the format in which the applications are in the Microsoft store. The idea is to download the WhatsApp package and run it with WINE. If things work better in the future, this might be the best option, or maybe WINE 8.0 make it possible. The point is that I comment on this possibility for those who want to try it and because of what might happen. The process would be as follows:
Trying to install Windows version
- First of all, we need the WhatsApp version of the Microsoft Store, whose link you have here. And to be able to use WhatsApp with this method we also have to have WINE installed.
- We have to paste that link store.rg-adguard.net. It is a page similar to those that manage to get the (free) packages from Google Play, and what it does is basically a By Pass or bridge to allow you to download the packages from outside the official store.
- Of the links that it offers us, we have to choose the one for our architecture, the most common being x64.
- If our browser downloads the package without further ado, then we would already have it. If you are using one such as Chrome, you may need to right click on the link and select "Save As...".
- In the next step we have to access the content of the package. The .appx files are similar to some such as CBZ or CBR for comics: they are actually a ZIP that we can open from the terminal or with the "archive" that our operating system uses. Otherwise, we could change the extension to .zip to open the file with a double click.
- Now that we can see everything it contains, we have to look for its executable or .exe file. In the case of WhatsApp, it is inside the “app” folder.
- Finally, we go to the terminal and write "wine / path / to / exe", without the quotes and where we will have to put the path to our .exe file.
- As an optional step, we can create a .desktop file (more or less so) so that the app appears in our start menu.
And that would be all.
Now, I insist that I think it is a long and tedious process and that in the times that I have tried it, it has not been worth it, since there are things that do not work and to install so much "trash" and not win something, better to use something more official, that is, something based on WhatsApp Web.
Web version and derivatives, the best to have WhatsApp in Ubuntu
I don't know if this will ever change in the future, but as long as there is nothing official, and be careful using something modded because Meta could ban us, it is best to use something based on WhatsApp web. For me the best options would be:
Web WhatsApp
En web.whatsapp.web We will access the modern version of the first thing they launched that could be used without having to touch the mobile. The first versions forced us to have the phone connected to the same Wi-Fi network and it worked as a "mirror", but later they allowed the web version to become independent and can be used even when the phone is turned off.
What we will see will be something like the above, with the outside part different depending on the browser used and, of course, with the contacts without pixels. The good thing is that it supports browser notifications, supports light and dark themes, and has almost everything we might need. Video calls are not among what we can do.
Gtk whats
If we are using Ubuntu, a good option would be Gtk Whats. Is available in this link, it runs smooth and looks good on Ubuntu because it's based on GTK. The only thing is that it disappeared from Flathub and it seems that its development is slowed down, but it is a good option, since WhatsApp Web updates come directly from Meta (Facebook).
whatsie and kesty
Other options include using apps like WhatSie or Kesty, both available as Snap packages (here the first and here the second). Both these two and Gtk Whats are compatible with system notifications, and for me that would be the only reason not to use the official WhatsApp Web: if several notifications accumulate and our browser does not separate them, Twitter notifications, for example, they are mixed with those of WhatsApp in the same icon, which makes it difficult to read.
Applications for various web applications
Nor can we fail to mention those types of applications in which several web applications can be used at the same time. For example, French, a fork of the same name Ferdi that promises fewer restrictions or Tangram. Of the three, I would choose Tangram, since it is an application that is in (or close to) the circle of GNOME, and if they take so much care of it, it is for a reason.
Anbox and Waydroid
As I explained in the section on using the Windows version in case it works better in the future, we also have to talk about anbox. "Android in a Box" has been around for about six years, but it's not used much on desktop Linux. The installation process is not the most "straight forward" that we would like, and you have to install kernel modules in order to run it. Many mobile Linux operating systems have something based on Anbox to be able to run Android apps on Linux phones, but the situation is much different on desktop.
Based on Anbox we also have Waydroid, something that I tried in its day and it gave me better sensations. In this article It explains how to install it on Ubuntu, and the idea would be to install Android WhatsApp on Waydroid. Now... there are also things that don't work.
And in a virtual machine?
Let's put ourselves in the worst: we have to use WhatsApp by nose and we need everything to work, including video calls. In this case, what we have to do is what we have done all our lives, which is nothing more than running a virtual machine. In this article We explain how to install Windows 10 on Ubuntu, and in this other what do we have to do if we want the virtual machine to have access to all the hardware on our computer. It would only be necessary to change Ubuntu for Windows and we would already have it. Well, we would have it if we go to the WhatsApp website and download, install the messaging application and identify ourselves to be able to use our account in it.
If the virtual machine has access to hardware like the camera and microphone, video calls will be possible. Now, I think that this should only be used in extreme cases, since starting a virtual machine just to chat would not make much sense because we can do that from WhatsApp Web.
Better known bad ...
Having just written the above, I myself disagree with myself, but I say it for a reason. Currently, if we want something to work, it is well worth taking the official one, and what Meta offers for Ubuntu and Linux in general is the web version (in the header screenshot it is WhatsApp Web in a Vivaldi panel). Everything that is not using that version is nothing more than small modifications that may have something extra, but we cannot install WhatsApp on Ubuntu and have the same thing that Windows and macOS users have. It is what you have not to use what the majority use, but we already knew that, right?