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Comment by miohtama | Hacker News Reader

You can use WhatsApp in your browser: web.whatsapp.com

No 1 GB or installation needed

Why is the desktop app even a thing?

the desktop app allows the taskbar icon to have notification indicators. these work offline, so i can quickly and easily glance at the bottom of my screen to see if I have any messages. these can be read offline, with the taskbar updating still.

the desktop app is considerably faster and more responsive.

the deaktop app allows OS level shortcut keys

the desktop app is easier to work with when applying parameters in programs like excluding it from my VPN or for sandboxing or for isolating network traffic. Or for looking at how much space it takes up on disk. (im not a web developer), it doesnt cause any confusion or mistakes to be made as its logical separation in OS is clear, this is also faster

the desktop app has better keyboard shortcuts that dont collide with your browser, and the same with right click menus

I can easily video call from various PCs while still not trusting my browser with camera/mic permissions

The desktop app is very good for quickly attaching pictures and documents, or receiving them, I find it harder to do that on the phone app , and a web app just doesn’t work very well when you want it open all the time. Same with Slack, having a desktop app really improves things.

> a web app just doesn’t work very well when you want it open all the time.

Pin tab, problem solved?

Now you have to switch apps to the browser, find which browser window has the session you want, switch to the tab, etc., instead of just switching to WhatsApp app via keyboard or taskbar directly.

The ergonomics are significantly worse.

I want most of my browser windows full screen. I don't want my instant messenger full screen. Using it in a browser means I have to have one size, and resizing one changes the other.

The experience of using a native app is far superior.

I use the WhatsApp Web PWA and it allows me to have a dedicated window/app for it?

Sure it's a little quirky at times (eg it closes if the browser restarts for update) and it doesn't have a system tray icon, but aside from that, it behaves like a separate app.

> Sure it's a little quirky at times

So it doesn't behave like a separate app.

It does in the ways that seem important to GP based on their comment, and aside from restarting when the browser updates or other pedantry, it does.

Just open it in a separate browser window then? Different windows can have different sizes and get separate buttons in the taskbar.

I guess if you're using Microsoft's ill-advised window grouping feature it would work less well (require more clicks), but breaking websites out into entirely separate programs just so we can have separate windows because Microsoft screwed up the window management functionality seems like a very inefficient workaround.

That still requires picking a specific window. If I have 6 browser windows I need to find the correct one of six.

With a native app it's just alt+tab - or, if the app is pinned to the taskbar, Win+(1/2/3/4...)

No. People are stupid. They love when taskbar (rightbottom) is flooded with icons and constantly blink to disturb when using device while sucking tons of CPU/memory.

Last time i checked the web version didn't support calls (on macos)

So what's your shortcut to switch to Whatsapp if it's inactive, launch it if it's not running, and hide it if it's active, in a browser tab?

It will use 1gb on your browser.

Using 224MB on Firefox. Still feels way too high for what it is.

I use exactly on Firefox, but maybe your use is less? With groups, etc it heavy super fast...

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