How to chat on Whatsapp on Linux with ZapZap
ZapZap is a beautiful, powerful Whatsapp client for Linux. It is an unofficial app with improved features like support for multiple users, integrated spellcheck, notifications, etc. Here’s how to chat on Whatsapp on Linux with ZapZap.
Before we begin
This article covers ZapZap, a third-party Whatsapp client. To use this app on your Linux computer, you must have the Whatsapp app installed on a mobile device (iOS or Android) and a Whatsapp account.
How to install ZapZap on Linux
Before using the ZapZap client, you must install it on your computer. So how do you install it? The primary method for setting up the application on Linux systems is through Flatpak. Flatpak supports a wide variety of operating systems. Another way to set up ZapZap is by building the software using Python. We’ll cover both methods in this guide.
To start the installation process, open up a terminal window. You can open a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Or, search for “Terminal” in the app menu and launch it that way.
The installation process can begin with the terminal open and ready to use. Follow the instructions below to set up ZapZap on your Linux computer in your preferred method.
Flatpak
The easiest way to get ZapZap working on Linux is by setting it up as a Flatpak. To start the setup process, you must configure the Flatpak runtime. How do you do that? Install the “flatpak” package using your Linux system.
If you’re having trouble setting up the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC, do not worry! We’ve got you covered. Follow our in-depth guide on how to install and configure Flatpak.
Once you’ve configured the Flatpak runtime on your computer, you’ll need to add the Flathub app store. The Flathub app store provides a wide variety of Linux applications in the Flatpak format, including the ZapZap whatsapp client. To enable Flathub, run the following flatpak remote-add command.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
After adding the Flathub repository to your Linux system, you can easily install the ZapZap program on your computer using the following flatpak install command.
flatpak install flathub com.rtosta.zapzap
Once the command is run, the software should be installed on your computer. You can launch the ZapZap program on your computer by executing the flatpak run command below. Or by searching for “ZapZap” in the app menu.
flatpak run com.rtosta.zapzap
Build from source
While we don’t recommend installing the ZapZap tool from the source via Python is possible. To start, ensure you have the git tool installed on your computer. If you do not have it, enter the commands below.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install git
Debian
sudo apt-get install git
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S git
Fedora
sudo dnf install git
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install git
With the git tool installed, you can use the pip command to install the required dependencies for ZapZap.
pip install PyQt6 PyQt6-WebEngine dbus-python
With the dependencies set up, you can download and run the code.
git clone https://github.com/rafatosta/zapzap.git
cd zapzap python run.py
Using ZapZap
To use ZapZap, open up the app. You can launch ZapZap by searching for it in the app menu. Alternatively, you can start the ZapZap app with the flatpak run command or the python run.py command above.
Once the ZapZap application is open and ready to use, follow the steps below to set up the app on your Linux PC.
- Whatsapp requires that you log into the ZapZap client using the mobile app before you can use it. To log into your account, open the Whatsapp app on Android or iOS.
- Once inside the iOS or Android app, access the settings/menu area. Then, select the Linked Devices area, and scan the QR code that appears in the ZapZap application. However, be quick, as the QR code changes every few minutes.
- When you scan the QR code, ZapZap will let you use your Whatsapp account on the Linux desktop.
- Once you’ve logged into ZapZap, click on the hamburger menu next to the “X” button. This will reveal the ZapZap settings area.
- Inside the ZapZap settings area, find the “User Management” section, and write in your name. Entering your name isn’t required, but it will help if you log in with multiple users.
How do you chat with ZapZap?
Once you’ve configured your name, you’re ready to start messaging using ZapZap. To message, click on the message icon with the mouse. After selecting it, you will see your contacts appear.
Browse through your contacts and select one to chat with. After selecting it, you can chat with your contact in ZapZap. When done chatting, select “File” followed by “Quit” to close the app.
