How can I use Whatsapp video call on Linux?
I tried Whatsapp-for-Linux and Whatsie but they didn’t work.
You cant
There is no official whatsapp app for Linux and all of the apps on the store rely on whatsapp web
not even with wine?🍷
Actually I never tried with Wine… It may be an alternative
Last time I tried it (few months ago), it was booked :(
could Waydroid be used for this?
Waydroid has no camera passthrough. The only person willing to do that kinda vanished in Oct 2023.
You can’t send your video, receiving video and sending/receiving audio work.
Video calls are not supported under Linux afaik, since they don’t enable it for the web version.
I wonder if they’re supported on Windows with Chrome…? Maybe this is a case of simply replacing the UA string?
They don’t support calling in any browsers. If I recall correctly they’re using some kind of native library to encrypt and transcode the video, which the browser obviously can’t use. You need to get the native app on Windows and macOS.
Well they probably could get it to work in the browser it’s just that they didn’t. I wonder why?!
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Doesn’t discord support video calls in the browser? Surely it cant be the e2e being the problem here? I didn’t know about the WASM overhead, I always thought of it as near native but I guess that’s not the case then? Websockets should work fine though right?
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Discord uses unencrypted WebRTC
I’m a noob but how unencrypted are we talking about here? Can someone do a packet capture and reconstruct the video? Or like unencrypted at the machine level and other processes can see.
You raise valid points and thank you for the detailed answer. It’s a shame wasm isn’t hardware accelerated, is that because of security or is it simply not implemented yet? (i can google this but I’m just wondering.) I agree that being able to call on a web browser is perhaps less necessary because of the phone having to be linked anyway, but it still would be nice to have :)
I’m guessing all the people suggesting to ditch WhatsApp have never been to Brazil. Everything there is done with it, you can buy groceries, medicine, do banking, get services, take out, etc… Getting the whole country to change will never happen. So, yes, while some of us do install Signal, none will ever uninstall WhatsApp…
What if Meta collapses and goes into bankruptcy?
We’re seeing the fallout from a commercial service used for public interest communication falling in real time with Twitter, so many public service things that depended or still depend on Twitter have outright broke as it turns into raw sewage and people flee it. That should have NEVER been the main communications medium, and now the price is being paid. I understand as i too am in a place where WhatsApp is near-mandatory, but this is something that WILL have bad consequences sooner or later.
Then people will have a reason to change other than just for privacy concerns…
People will switch to the russian whatsapp. Telegram. Nothing will change.
Pretty much the same in Mexico
Yup, WhatsApp is basically the Brazilian WeChat. If I uninstall WhatsApp I basically lose contact with my mom and a bunch of other people since I live in Canada.
my mom and a bunch of other people
People who aren’t very close to you are one thing, but wouldn’t your mom of all people be wiling to install Signal or your preferred alternative?
My mom is 70 years old and can barely use her phone. It took many years to convince her to get a smartphone.
The UK isn’t quite that far, but it’s absolutely the dominant text messaging and calling app in the UK. Nobody uses the built in Android or Apple tools anymore, and I’m as likely to receive a WhatsApp voice call as an actual phone call these days.
I have Signal on my phone, but I’ve literally never had a cause to use it; I’ve simply got no contacts on there.
They must be proud of Elixir.
Using an Android emulator like Waydroid or compatibility layer like Anbox you might be able to use the Android version on Linux and pick up calls from there?
I have good experiences with Waydroid, but no experience with WhatsApp so I can’t guarantee it will work, it’s just a suggestion that I hope will help
Waydroid has no camera passthrough
I’ve had really good experience with Genymotion android emulation on Linux, even on underpowered devices. Might work well to do video calls
Interesting
The web application, which is often repacked into “native” applications, doesn’t support calling. Waydroid doesn’t support audio/video in/output for WhatsApp according to various Github threads.
Your best bet may be to set up Android-x86 in a virtual machine and using USB forwarding to get video working. I’m not sure what you’d need to get sound working, though.
It’s also possible that Google’s development emulator can run this stuff, I recall it having a webcam forwarding feature at least, but I don’t know about audio or if WhatsApp will work on there.
BlissOS is a continued version of Androidx86
You can use jitsi both on mobile and desktop and it is platform agnostic, privacy respecting and FOSS. Just dont use whatsapp (video) at all.
Thank you, I like Jitsi but it is not always under my control. My supervisor sometimes calls me on Whatsapp and there is nothing I can do.
My supervisor was an FOSS guy. He used Linux, Libreoffice everything but he still insisted on whatsapp for informal communication. I guess network effects is hard to avoid.
You could mirror your android phone using scrcpy but I never used it.
There is a Qt version for it on Linux
Is it scrcpy?
Yes, that was it
For me the web version just says “my browser is not supported” even tho am on firefox
Use Google Meet instead
@sandayle Don’t use WutzÄbb, Period
Ah yes, the obligatory “lol just don’t use $thing” response. Helps nobody, but I guess it lets you feel superior.
I hate Facebook as much as anyone, but in the real world people don’t always have the luxury of getting to use whatever you consider morally correct. Especially with a messenger – depending on where you are, Whatsapp might just be what most people are using, and the people are the reason you would use a messenger in the first place.
I hate Whatsapp. I didn’t use it for three years, but I have to use it for the last two years due to my work.
@sandayle I’m really sorry about that and you have my fullest condolences. Nobody should be forced to use non-free software
People who say this in response to a request for help should just be perma-banned. Just get rid of them flat out. It’s the sure sign that someone is a total buffoon and will only ever make the place worse.
I think there’s value in pushback against popular but problematic software. Some people just don’t realize that, for example, WhatsApp is owned entirely by Meta and is known to collaborate with law enforcement, which are two facts that entirely undermine its main selling point.
Yes and if someone was looking for advice in general then it would be appropriate. Or if this were a security sub. Or, if you had a solution available and included a warning parenthetically as a courtesy.
But responding to a request for help with telling the person they should not do what they want to do is a tired old obnoxious cliché and nobody appreciates it. It’s universally hated.
Privacy is not the point of OP’s question. A good answer would’ve been saying there is no WhatsApp client for Linux, and then (optionally) explaining that Signal has a desktop client and is a also privacy-respecting choice. Insulting OP by stating “You should not use this or that” is such a StackOverflow thing and helps nobody.
Edit: Just to make sure: I’ve never used WhatsApp and never will use it.
Yeah, because he is using it for fun. You are totally right :)
