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Does an alternative/FOSS version of the WhatsApp client exist?
I am forced to use WhatsApp for work. I would prefer to not have the WhatsApp app on my personal android phone. Is there any workarounds or alternative apps? Switching to a different chat network is not an option unfortunately.
Beeper and Matrix both offer bridges to WhatsApp. I haven’t used either, but I am vaguely interested in messaging bridges and have Matrix self-hosting on my list of someday projects.
Beeper may be more plug-and-play, and more explicitly is designed for bridging to other messaging apps. Matrix is more of a messaging protocol itself, but as far as I understand, there do exist ways to connect to third-party apps if your heart so desires.
For Matrix, you will also have to choose from one of the clients to actually do your messaging. More points of possible breakage but it is a more “free and open” setup.
I'm familiar with BirdyChat and Haiket in the EU for third-party Whatsapp clients but not sure if they'll work for your usecase. The aforementioned Beeper integration should work too. Not sure if other clients would work well. I know Meta can be a bit strict sometimes about using third-party clients and can suspend your account.