Install WhatsApp Linux Client on Debian 8, Ubuntu 16.04, Linux Mint 18

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.

Whatsie features:

  • Group chats
  • Send photos & videos
  • Share locations
  • multiple themes and mini mode
  • Native notifications
  • Spell checker and auto correct
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Launch on OS startup
  • Automatic Updates

Install WhatsApp Linux Client on Debian 8, Ubuntu 16.04, Linux Mint 18

The recommended way to install Whatsie is through apt repository which provides future updates. First fire up a terminal window (CTRL+ALT+T), then add the author’s repository to your sources list by running the following command:

echo "deb https://dl.bintray.com/aluxian/deb beta main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/whatsie.list

Next, download the author’s GPG key and import it to the APT keyring so that packages downloaded from the author’s repository can be verified.

gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 1537994D

gpg --export --armor 1537994D | sudo apt-key add -

Then update local package index and install Whatsie.

sudo apt update

sudo apt install whatsie

Once installed, you can start Whatsie from Unity Dash or application Menu.

whatsie ubuntu whatsapp client

Upon first launch, you need to scan the QR code using WhatsApp on your phone to be able to login.

whatsapp client for ubuntu scan qr code

Open WhatsApp on your phone, select CHATS tab, then open the context menu and select WhatsApp Web.  Note that you may have to reboot your phone to be able to see WhatsApp Web option if you are installing WhatsApp on your phone for the first time.

whatsapp linux scan qr code

Now scan the QR code and login.

whatsie scan qr code

Whatsie interface.

whatsie whatsapp client for ubuntu

And that’s it! I hope this tutorial helped you install Whatsie WhatsApp Linux client on your Debian, Ubuntu, or Linux Mint machine. As always, if you found this post useful,  subscribe to our free newsletter or follow us on Google+Twitter or like our Facebook page. Thanks for visiting.

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6 Responses to “Install WhatsApp Linux Client on Debian 8, Ubuntu 16.04, Linux Mint 18

  • Adhy Rizaldy
    6 years ago

    It’s not located there anymore… Somelike Whatsie is abandoned …currently https://davidgf.net/whatsapp/ links is the only trusted resource

  • Ivo Válek
    6 years ago

    cannot install, Terminator ends with: E: Not possible to find whatsie…

  • Igorer88
    4 years ago

    It’s an abandoned project. Use whatsdesk intead! 🙂

  • L. Hilgers
    4 years ago

    Hallo, heute habe ich versucht dieses Progamm zu installieren, aber es sind Fehler vorhanden……Siehe bitte den unteren Text, ich bitte um Hilfe, damit ich dieses Programm benutzen kann.

    sudo apt install whatsie
    Paketlisten werden gelesen… Fertig
    Abhängigkeitsbaum wird aufgebaut.
    Statusinformationen werden eingelesen…. Fertig
    E: Paket whatsie kann nicht gefunden werden.
    leonhard@leonhard-Lenovo:~$

  • Anibal Landauro
    4 years ago

    The command sudo apt add – did not work. So it did not find the whatsie package.
    I could not install.

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