README

ZapFast

WhatsApp, native and fast.A lightweight WhatsApp app for Linux, macOS, and Windows.


  Download ·
  Getting started ·
  User guide ·
  Contribute



  
  
  


ZapFast is a WhatsApp client written in Rust with
egui and fastframe, the
framework behind a family of native desktop apps. It links to your phone as a
companion device through
whatsapp-rust and has no browser
engine. In our Linux test it opens in under a second and uses about 200 MB of
idle RAM, against 1.13 GB for WhatsApp Web.
See the measurements.

The interface is available in English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional),
Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian,
Spanish, and Turkish.


  
  



Watch ZapFast in action

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2bf86b54-45fc-4add-8de7-c426c3cdad9b



Features · Install · Link your phone · Help

 Your chats, on your desktop

| Feature | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Messages | Send formatted text, replies, edits, reactions, forwards, pictures, files, stickers, GIFs, polls, and voice messages. |
| Media in the chat | Play voice messages, videos, round video messages, GIFs, and animated stickers in place. |
| Your history | Keep your chats in an encrypted archive on this computer, fetch older messages from your phone as you scroll, and export locally saved chat history as text or a ZIP with downloaded attachments. |
| Several numbers | Link more than one WhatsApp number and switch between them in one window. |
| Desktop controls | Use keyboard shortcuts, select and copy text across messages, and stay linked in the tray with notifications. |
| Themes | Choose light, dark, system appearance, or custom colours. On Omarchy, follow your desktop theme. |
| Privacy | Hide locked chats behind a code, or the whole window behind an app lock. Nothing goes to a server of ours. |

 Install

| Platform | Installation |
|---|---|
| macOS | brew install --cask crmne/tap/zapfast, or download the Mac app. |
| Arch Linux | yay -S zapfast-bin |
| Windows | Choose your build on the Download page. |
| Other Linux | Find Nix, AppImage, and other options on the Download page. |
| From source | Follow Getting started for dependencies and commands. |

 Link your phone

1. Open ZapFast. It shows a QR code.
2. On your phone, open WhatsApp, then Settings, Linked devices,
   Link a device, and scan the code. Or click Link with phone number
   and enter the eight-character code on your phone.
3. Your recent chats arrive from the phone. Older messages follow as you
   scroll up.

The link survives restarts, and your phone does not need to stay online to
read what ZapFast has already stored. See
Getting started for the full
walkthrough and How it links for the
details.

 Guides and help

The complete guide lives at zapfast.rocks.

| You want to… | Read |
|---|---|
| Know what ZapFast does and does not do yet | What is ZapFast? |
| Link your phone or build from source | Getting started |
| Learn messages, stickers, polls, and s

Top issues

Discussions

Latest release

ZapFast 0.21.1 fixes the disappearing messages menu, which 0.21.0 added but never opened, lines up the info panel's header with the chat beside it, and plays videos that some encoders lay out differently.

Download ZapFast: Mac · Windows · Windows ARM · Linux · Linux ARM · AppImage · AppImage ARM · Flatpak · Debian/Ubuntu · Fedora

On a Mac, brew install --cask crmne/tap/zapfast. On Arch, yay -S zapfast-bin.

 Fixed

- The disappearing messages timer opens its choices. In 0.21.0 the timer in a chat's info panel showed the current setting, but a click or Enter on it did nothing. By @crmne. (531