WhatsApp on Ubuntu

Installation and configuration

1. apt-get install python python-dateutil python-argparse
2. wget https://github.com/tgalal/yowsup/archive/master.zip
3. unzip master.zip
4. cd yowsup-master/src
5. cp config.example yowsup-cli.config

6. cat yowsup-cli.config

   cc=34
   phone=34123456789
   id=
   password=
   

7. chmod +x yowsup-cli

8. ./yowsup-cli --requestcode sms --config yowsup-cli.config

   status: sent
   retry_after: 3605
   length: 6
   method: sms
   

9. ./yowsup-cli --register 123-456 --config yowsup-cli.config

   status: ok
   kind: free
   pw: S1nBGCvZhb6TBQrbm2sQCfSLkXM=
   price: 0,89
   price_expiration: 1362803446
   currency: EUR
   cost: 0.89
   expiration: 1391344106
   login: 34123456789
   type: new
   

10. Copy the pw field from the output & paste it in front of password field in the yowsup-cli.config. Your yowsup-cli.config should look like below: cat yowsup-cli.config

    cc=34
    phone=34123456789
    id=
    password=S1nBGCvZhb6TBQrbm2sQCfSLkXM=
    

Send a message

./yowsup-cli --send 34111222333 "Test message" --wait --config yowsup-cli.config

Connecting to c.whatsapp.net
Authed 34123456789
Sent message
Got sent receipt

Receive messages

./yowsup-cli --listen --autoack --keepalive --config yowsup-cli.config

Connecting to c.whatsapp.net
Authed 34123456789
34111222333@s.whatsapp.net [02-02-2013 14:14]:I have received a test message from you

Interactive: Send and receive messages

./yowsup-cli --interactive 34111222333 --wait --autoack --keepalive --config yowsup-cli.config

Connecting to c.whatsapp.net
Authed 34123456789
Starting Interactive chat with 34111222333
Enter Message or command: (/available, /lastseen, /unavailable)
Yes, I know it
34123456789 [02-02-2013 14:15]:Yes, I know it
Enter Message or command: (/available, /lastseen, /unavailable)
34111222333@s.whatsapp.net [02-02-2013 14:16]:What are you doing?
Enter Message or command: (/available, /lastseen, /unavailable)
Testing a new application
34123456789 [02-02-2013 14:16]:Testing a new application
Enter Message or command: (/available, /lastseen, /unavailable)
/unavailable

Too much of geeky stuff ??

1. Skip all the steps of sending and receiving a message. Just install the WhatsApp client & configure it as mentioned.
2. We will use Pidgin Instant Messenger to make this work. Install it if you don’t have it. sudo apt-get install pidgin
3. Then install WhatsApp protocol implementation for Pidgin.
   • sudo add-apt-repository ppa:whatsapp-purple/ppa
   • sudo apt-get update
   • sudo apt-get install pidgin-whatsapp
4. Now simply launch Pidgin. Add a whatsapp account, put username as the phone number with country code (as written above) and password as the string we obtained earlier.
5. Use WhatsApp on Ubuntu of yours. ( NOTE : Don’t use it simultaneously on your mobile ).

WhatsApp Emojis for Pidgin

You need to install and enable the Emoji smiley theme. Just copy one of the sub-directories from following Git repositories to $HOME/.purple/smileys/ and enable the newly installed theme in the Pidgin preferences window.

• https://github.com/stv0g/unicode-emoji
• https://github.com/VxJasonxV/emoji-for-pidgin

Known Issues

I’ve tested this on my Ubuntu 13.04 (64 bit) & it seems to be working perfectly. Though the trouble part is at the other hand. Whenever the other person receives a message sent by us via Pidgin; the mobile phone hangs up a bit & WhatsApp gets crashed

Yet, it’s all togather a different story whether WhatsApp mobile app is reading messages properly which comes from Pidgin or not. Maybe Pidgin seems to be sending any unknown message/socket headers which the mobile app can’t decode. (Tested on Samsung S Advance & Micromax Canvas) Anyway, this problem is for the mobile users and not for you if you want to use WhatsApp on your machine.

Regarding Emojis, some of them might not work but this is the best that I’ve come across.

NOTE : This method will not work if you’re already using WhatsApp on your mobile with same mobile number. You will need another number to get this working.