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Should I bridge Whatsapp on Matrix? (Or alternatives to get on Whatsapp) (reddthat.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by Lemmert@reddthat.com to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

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Heyhey everyone,

I am going to switch from my Synapse instance (back) to Continuwuity in a month. The main reason I've been using it is to chat with family who are only on Whatsapp and iMessage (Yes, I tried getting them someplace else. Whatsapp ended up being that other place). Though I'm also in groups on other Matrix instances.

The main annoyances I had with using the bridge until now are:

I need to open the app every two weeks on my second phone (which tends to get lost when I need it).
The time my server went out for a couple of days also made me unsure of self hosting a bridge. I don't mind if I can't see some support messages for a couple of days, but I do mind not being able to get texts from family.

Compared to just using the app it's a difficult proposition. But on the other hand I don't have anything proprietary installed on my phone and I'd like to keep it that way if possible.

There is technically a third option by hosting an iMessage bridge, but I don't have a spare Mac. And while my second phone is an iPhone, there is no documentation on how to bridge via a 64-bit iPhone. In this case however, there would be no two weeks access requirement.

I'd love to hear you guys' thoughts and maybe some other way to tackle this!

Cheers!

Edit: Thanks everyone for the help! I've heard some awesome suggestions. I opted to keep using the bridge. Apparently you don't need to open the app to refresh the biweekly timer, just run it in the backgroud. I happen to have a device that is on more than often enough for Whatsapp to refresh that timer in te background.

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[–] Lemmert@reddthat.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

A fair amount of smaller businesses in Belgium also primarily use Whatsapp.

A VM is difficult for me since I only have a spare quad core laptop from almost a decade ago. So I'm sceptical on whether it will be able to virtualise an OS on top. And the bridges are hosted on a Zimablade. So I have my doubts there as well. Though I can definitely give it a spin in my free time, you never know.

I do have my main computer where I do run VMs often, but I doubt my partner will be fine running that noisy thing overnight though.

Ideally I would be running an iMessage bridge like you're suggesting. Unfortunately I don't have time to get it to work on my iPhone since the maumium docs mention it's possible, but haven't made a guide for it.

I'll definitely keep the VM thing in mind if I ever decide to replace the Zimablade. I doubt my family will let go of their Apple devices any time soon anyway.

Thanks, I've really been appreciating everyones ideas here!