Something recently happened to me, the details of which are not relevant. The fact is that I had to talk to someone, and due to a mistake on my part I thought it was going to be a WhatsApp call or video conference. In the end, only a phone call was necessary, but I was already prepared for whatever could happen. Are the WhatsApp video calls with Linux? The bad news is that it happens like with many other programs.
No. they cannot be WhatsApp video calls are not possible, nor is it possible with voice calls. Now, is there a trick? Yes, of course: a virtual machine, which is recommended to have to cover this and many other possibilities. If you are wondering if using WINE is an option, it is not. Although I have managed to install the official version, the one from the Microsoft Store, only served to make me realize that it doesn't go far beyond what WhatsApp Web offers. Therefore, I don't think it's worth more than one of the many options available. find on Flathub.
Enjoy WhatsApp video calls on Linux with a virtual machine
If that call or video call is important, well, I honestly don't think it would be via WhatsApp. But if we find ourselves in a situation where we need one of these options and our operating system is Linux, The best thing we can do is pull a virtual machineThis would be valid for GNOME Boxes, my choice, VirtualBox and any other Linux compatible program. The way to do it would be as follows:
- The first step, installing the virtual machine, contains many steps, explained in this article about Windows 11.
- With the virtual machine installed, we start it.
- Without WhatsApp we will not do anything, so we install it. WhatsApp recommends doing it from the official Microsoft store… although I recommend opening a terminal and typing winget install whatsapp. This in Windows, in the virtual machine.
- We open WhatsApp and link it to our phone as usual.
- Finally, we go to the hardware settings of the virtual machine and enable webcam support. In VirtualBox it may be necessary to install the Guest Additions, but in GNOME Boxes it would work straight away. In GNOME Boxes, this can be done by starting the virtual machine, clicking on the three dots/Preferences/Devices and sharing and turning on its switch.
And that's all. The really important thing is the first and last steps, in which the virtual machine is created and in which it is given access to the camera - the microphone is usually not necessary; it works straight away. All that's left is to start a WhatsApp call or video call, and the icons will appear and the buttons will work.
Really? All this for something so simple?
Unfortunately, yes. Meta explains it in this link from their support faq: «Calls are not supported on WhatsApp Web. To make WhatsApp calls on your computer, you will need to download WhatsApp for Windows or WhatsApp for Mac«. And as you see, Nothing is mentioned about Linux, systems for which there is no desktop version.
As we have already explained, if we install the Windows version with WINE or another similar tool, we will be able to use WhatsApp Desktop, but the call buttons will not work. There are many tools developed by the community that promise that the function will work, excuse the redundancy, but it is a promise that they do not keep. Absolutely all of these proposals are versions of WhatsApp Web, and what is mentioned in the previous paragraph already makes it clear that it is not an option.
Will there be a Linux version in the future? I have not spoken to Marc Zuckerberg, but I would dare say no, never.On the desktop, Windows + macOS account for around 95% of the market share, and releasing something for less than 5%, what madness is this? At least, if you are like me, who has a Windows virtual machine just in case, calling and video calling with WhatsApp from Linux is possible… somehow.
And if not, propose an alternative. It won't be a matter of options.