whatRust is a free, open-source WhatsApp desktop app for Linux, Windows and macOS, built in Rust with Tauri v2. It runs the official web.whatsapp.com inside the web view the operating system already has, and adds multiple accounts, a privacy blur, an app lock, a tray icon and checksum-verified updates. On 13 November 2026 its GitHub repository had 314 stars. This post lays out how it got there, month by month, using only what GitHub's API reports. The app has its own page here: whatRust.
whatRust is an unofficial, independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by WhatsApp or Meta.
How fast did whatRust reach 300 stars?
The repository was created on 30 May 2026. The first star arrived on 6 June, and star number 300 came on 11 November, about five and a half months later. Stars per month, from GitHub's stargazer timestamps:
| Month (2026) | New stars | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| June | 14 | 14 |
| July | 4 | 18 |
| August | 24 | 42 |
| September | 57 | 99 |
| October | 70 | 169 |
| 1–13 November | 145 | 314 |
November's first thirteen days brought more stars than all of October. The busiest single days were 9 November (27 stars), 5 November (26) and 6 November (25).
Star history from GitHub on 13 November 2026, drawn by star-history.com. The live chart is on the app page.
What shipped along the way?
The star curve tracks a steady release history. Between 30 May and 13 November the repository saw:
- 28 releases, from v0.1.0 to v0.6.16. Three went out on launch day (30 May), eight in June, one in July, four in August, five in October and seven in the first half of November. v0.6.16 was published on 13 November.
- 244 commits on the main branch.
- 37 issues opened, of which 34 are closed.
- 8 merged pull requests from six outside contributors. They added a display-size selector, a monochrome macOS tray icon and native settings dialogs (August), a macOS menu-bar-only variant, native file drops in the macOS web view, and better account management with a language setting (October), plus a privacy-blur shortcut with a hidden Dock icon option and thin overlay scrollbars (November).
The headline features on the app page today, multiple isolated accounts, the privacy blur, the app lock and verified automatic updates, all arrived through these releases.
Where did visitors come from?
GitHub keeps traffic data for the last 14 days only, and it reports visits, not stars: it does not say which visitor pressed the star. For the 14 days up to 13 November, the repository had 4,663 views from 2,423 unique visitors and 1,192 clones from 335 unique cloners. The top referrers were:
- Google: 1,643 views (1,320 unique)
- reddit.com: 221 views (204 unique), plus 129 (117 unique) from the Reddit app
- github.com: 100 views (73 unique)
- Brave Search: 92 views (69 unique)
- aocr.org: 56 views (56 unique)
- DuckDuckGo: 36 views (30 unique), Bing: 26 (21 unique)
- YouTube: 18 views (15 unique), X (t.co): 17 (13 unique)
Search engines sent the largest share. The repository's description names it a low-RAM alternative to WhatsApp Desktop for Linux, Windows and macOS, and its 14 topics include whatsapp-desktop, linux, tauri and electron-alternative.
These are the posts published about whatRust, with their dates:
- 9 November: the build story on this site, the 67-second launch video on YouTube, a post on X and a post on LinkedIn.
- 13 November: a 300-stars post on X.
How do people install it?
Every install path is one command or one file, listed on the app page:
-
Linux: a Flatpak installer for x86_64 and ARM64, or an AppImage, plus
.debpackages. -
Windows 10/11: one PowerShell command, or
.exeand.msiinstallers. -
macOS (Apple Silicon): one shell command or a
.dmg.
Each release publishes a SHA256SUMS file, and the app installs an update only after the download matches it.
Frequently asked questions
Is whatRust an official WhatsApp app?
No. It is an independent open-source project under the MIT license, not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta. Linking it uses the same Linked Devices flow as WhatsApp Web.
How many GitHub stars does whatRust have?
314 on 13 November 2026, with 145 of them added between 1 and 13 November. The live count is on the app page.
Where do the numbers in this post come from?
From GitHub's REST API on 13 November 2026: stargazer timestamps for the monthly table, the releases and issues lists, and the repository traffic endpoints for views, clones and referrers.
How do I install whatRust on Linux?
Run the Flatpak installer listed on the app page, or download the AppImage or .deb from the latest release. Then scan the QR code with WhatsApp on your phone: Settings → Linked devices → Link a device.
About the author
whatRust is built by Abo-Elmakarem Shohoud, CTO and full-stack engineer at Ailigent in Cairo, alongside Rusty Inbox, an open-source email client. For companies that need fast internal tools and automated workflows, see digital transformation consulting; for teams that want to work faster with ChatGPT and Claude, see hands-on AI training.
Originally published on aboelmakarem.pro.
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