So if you can build a website, you can make a desktop app for macOS, Linux and Windows with Electron. Electron wants to simplify the creation of desktop apps across platforms by letting developers wrap their web code using a version of the Chromium browser engine. WhatsApp Desktop uses the Electron framework, and it shows. But now, Meta has expanded the WhatsApp Desktop beta to more people by making it available to download directly from its website. The WhatsApp Beta program on TestFlight is only available to a small number of people due to the limitations of TestFlight. The Meta-owned messaging software recently began testing a more seamless macOS experience with people on TestFlight. Electron: What’s the difference? More features are coming in the future | Image: Christian Zibreg/iDB You can share your feedback with WhatsApp by clicking the bug icon located at the lower part of the sidebar. If you’re going to install this app, a friendly reminder that you’ll be using beta software, so some features may still not work correctly. Overall, the Catalyst app provides a much more seamless experience for WhatsApp users on the macOS platform. By comparison, the current Electron app doesn’t support dragging and dropping files. The app feels nimble, with macOS features like spell-checker and drag and drop supported for the first time, thanks to Catalyst. Read: How to use multiple WhatsApp accounts on a single device You can hide or show the sidebar | Image: Christian Zibreg/iDB The sidebar, which can be hidden at will, lets you access the same shortcuts as in the iOS app: Chats, Calls, Archived, Starred and Settings. The interface sports a native sidebar which behaves like any good macOS platform citizen.

More importantly, it’s much more pleasing to use than the current one could ever hope to be. You’ll immediately notice that the native app has a yellow icon, indicating you’re running prerelease software. You can download the DMG file by clicking this link:Īfter installing the app on your machine, you’ll need to link your account by scanning the code with WhatsApp’s mobile app. What to do? Download the new app from the official website.ĭownload WhatsApp’s new Catalyst-powered Mac app.Why care? The existing Mac app, built using the Electron framework, feels out of place and does not support platform-specific features.What’s happening? WhatsApp has released a beta version of its upcoming native Mac app that looks and feels like a good macOS platform citizen.The sidebar provides the same shortcuts as the iOS app | Image: Christian Zibreg/iDB

Everyone dislikes WhatsApp’s Electron-powered Mac app, but Meta now lets you try out a new, native version built with Apple’s Catalyst framework ahead of release.

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