PrettyZap

PrettyZap is a desktop wrapper for WhatsApp Web with custom features for a better desktop experience.

WhatsApp Web remains responsible for authentication, messaging, encryption, networking, and data. PrettyZap adds the desktop window and custom controls around it.

Tested on Linux, including Omarchy/Hyprland.

See it in action

Keyboard controls

Use keyboard shortcuts to search, move through chats, navigate WhatsApp sections, open Archived, and focus the composer.

Watch the keyboard controls demo

Theming

Switch between WhatsApp's native appearance and the active system palette without reloading the conversation or changing its layout.

Watch the theming demo

Settings and widget controls

Use the desktop widget to open or hide PrettyZap and access its settings and theme controls.

Watch the settings and widget demo

What you get

• A native desktop window for WhatsApp Web with persistent login state.
• A collapsible chat drawer that keeps WhatsApp's own interface intact.
• Keyboard shortcuts for searching, navigating sections, cycling through chats, opening Archived, and focusing the composer.
• A theme toggle for WhatsApp's native appearance and the active system palette.
• A quick show/hide command for desktop keybindings and launchers.
• An optional Omarchy bar widget with controls for opening, hiding, theming, and quitting PrettyZap.
• A native nbshell integration in packaging/nbshell in the nerdislb/prettyzap fork.
• Local shell preferences for window size, maximized state, and drawer state.

Install

Arch Linux

Install the core package from the AUR:

paru -S prettyzap-bin

For Omarchy, add the native bar plugin directly from GitHub:

omarchy plugin add https://github.com/prettyletto/prettyzap.git --enable --yes

Open the PrettyZap bar icon and choose Install PrettyZap if the core app is not already installed.

From an AppImage

Download the latest release, make it executable, and run it:

chmod +x PrettyZap-*.AppImage
./PrettyZap-*.AppImage

From source

npm install
npm run build
npm start

Using it

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl/Cmd + L	Toggle the chat drawer
Ctrl/Cmd + /	Focus WhatsApp's chat search
Ctrl/Cmd + 1 … 8	Open WhatsApp navigation sections
Ctrl/Cmd + J / K	Move down/up in the active conversation
Ctrl/Cmd + I or Ctrl/Cmd + Enter	Focus the composer
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + J / K	Cycle forward/backward through chats
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + A	Open Archived
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + T	Toggle the theme
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Space	Show or hide PrettyZap, when supported

The show/hide action is also available from a desktop keybinding or launcher:

prettyzap --toggle

On Omarchy, the bar icon is the primary control surface. Install the published plugin with:

omarchy plugin add https://github.com/prettyletto/prettyzap.git --enable --yes

Open the bar panel and click Install PrettyZap once to install prettyzap-bin through yay; after that, left-click opens or hides the app and right-click opens the control panel. See packaging/omarchy/README.md for the local checkout installer, standalone Quickshell fallback, and uninstall instructions.

Privacy and security

PrettyZap loads the official WhatsApp Web client and does not replace it. It does not add a backend, copy WhatsApp's message database, reverse-engineer private APIs, or expose arbitrary Node.js/Electron APIs to the page.

The WhatsApp Web surface runs with Electron security boundaries enabled:

• WebContentsView
• nodeIntegration: false
• contextIsolation: true
• sandboxing where applicable
• a persistent partition for the WhatsApp session
• a narrow preload and IPC boundary

PrettyZap stores only its own shell preferences in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/prettyzap/shell-state.json or ~/.config/prettyzap/shell-state.json.

How it works

PrettyZap opens WhatsApp Web in an Electron WebContentsView. Small feature modules interact with WhatsApp's existing DOM and native controls, while the Electron main process handles the window, shortcuts, shell state, and desktop integration.

WhatsApp Web still handles the account, session, messages, media, encryption, networking, and rendering. PrettyZap is the shell around it.

Development

npm run dev          # build, watch TypeScript, and launch Electron
npm run typecheck    # type-check without emitting files
npm test             # build and run the tests
npm run package:linux  # build a Linux AppImage

GPU and memory usage

PrettyZap disables Chromium GPU acceleration by default. WhatsApp Web can cause Electron's GPU process to reserve several hundred megabytes on some Linux/Wayland systems, while the wrapper's UI and normal messaging remain usable without GPU rendering. Disabling it is intended to reduce the default memory footprint.

GPU acceleration can be enabled for troubleshooting, video playback, or voice/video calls:

PRETTYZAP_ENABLE_GPU=1 prettyzap

The equivalent one-shot override is:

prettyzap --enable-gpu

GPU acceleration may improve media rendering on some systems, but can also increase memory usage substantially.

The implementation notes are in src/features/README.md and src/main/README.md.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.