Something happened to me recently, the details of which aren't relevant. The thing is, I needed to talk to someone, and due to a misunderstanding, I thought it would be a WhatsApp call or video conference. In the end, only a phone call was necessary, but I was prepared for anything that might happen. Are WhatsApp video calls compatible with Linux? The bad news is that it's the same as with many other programs.
No. You can't make WhatsApp video calls, nor are voice calls possible. So, is there a workaround? Yes, of course: a virtual machine, which is recommended to cover this and many other possibilities. If you're wondering if using Wine is an option, it isn't. Although I did install the official version from the Microsoft Store, it only served to show me that it doesn't significantly surpass what WhatsApp Web offers. Therefore, I don't think it's worth it compared to one of the many options available on Flathub.
Enjoy WhatsApp video calls on Linux with a virtual machine
If that call or video call is important, well, honestly, I 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 use a virtual machine . This would apply to GNOME Boxes, my choice, VirtualBox, and any other Linux-compatible program. The process 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 to their support FAQ: " Calls are not supported on WhatsApp Web. To make WhatsApp calls on your computer, you'll need to download WhatsApp for Windows or WhatsApp for Mac ." And as you can see, there's no mention of 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 haven't spoken with Mark Zuckerberg, but I'd venture to say no, never . On the desktop, Windows and macOS hold around 95% of the market share, and launching something for less than 5%—what kind of madness is that? At least, if you're like me and have a Windows virtual machine running just in case, making calls and video calls with WhatsApp from Linux is possible… sort of.
And if not, propose an alternative. It won't be a matter of options.