WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a mobile-first instant messaging service owned by Meta, featuring end-to-end encryption. It requires an active mobile phone number and data connection to operate.

Warning There is no official WhatsApp desktop client for Linux, and Meta has strictly attempted to ban third-party clients and plugins using their protocol. On Arch Linux, desktop access is provided strictly through community-maintained wrappers or electron instances via the AUR. Users may want to avoid using WhatsApp altogether in favor of IM services with more openness, such as XMPP, signal-desktop , Telegram, or Matrix.

Installation

You can use one of following methods in order to use WhatsApp in Arch:

Web

WhatsApp Web, the only official way of using WhatsApp on Linux.

Tip For Chromium users who use only one profile:

Create and configure a new Chromium profile.
Open WhatsApp Web in the new profile.
Install WhatsApp Web as an app (Hamburger menu > Cast, save, and share > Install WhatsApp Web...).
Set the --profile-directory=Default flag. See Chromium#Making flags persistent for more details.

This way, WhatsApp Web will always open in the new profile while links and other shortcuts will open in your default profile. You can clear browsing data without worrying about it clearing your WhatsApp login.

Web-based clients

ElecWhat — Simple and stable WhatsApp client. Uses system electron package to save resources.

https://github.com/piec/elecwhat/ || elecwhat-bin ^AUR

Ferdium — A community fork of franz, previously created to offer an alternative to ferdi.

https://ferdium.org/ || ferdium ^AUR

Franz — An open-source Chrome-based application that can be used for web-based interface of various instant messaging software including WhatsApp.

https://meetfranz.com/ || franz ^AUR