If you look at my web browser, you’ll see that it’s always full too many tabs. Therefore, I try to decouple certain services from the web browser and use desktop clients instead.
However, not all services have official customers for Linux desktopso it’s not always so easy.
Such is the case with Facebook Messenger.
While there is an official client for MacOS, Windows, Android, and iOS, there isn’t one for Linux.
And while I can choose to use Chrome to create the Messenger web app, I don’t use Chrome. So what do I have to do to get a Facebook Messenger-like client on Linux?
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I install a handy little tool, called Caprine, which is available to install on both Linux and MacOS. One thing I like about Caprine is that it has a few features that the official Facebook Messenger doesn’t have. The entire feature list looks like this:
- Dark theme
- Live theme *
- Focus on privacy
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Menu bar mode *
- Work chat support
- Code block
- Touch Bar support *
- Custom style
- Multi-platform
- Silent automatic update
- Custom text size
- Emoji style settings
- Respect Do Not Disturb *
- Emoji stickers, GIF support
* These features are only available for the MacOS version.
If I had to choose between the official Facebook Messenger app and Caprine, I would use Caprine every day. For example, one thing the official app does is default to chat head bubbles, which can seriously take over your screen. Caprine doesn’t do that, so all chats are located in the app. So between that and having a Linux app, Caprine is the winner for me, hands down.
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How to download Facebook Messenger application on Linux
How do you get Caprine on different Linux distributions? I will show you.
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Caprine can be installed on Ubuntu and Debian-based distributions, RHEL and Fedora-based distributions as well as any distribution that supports Snap, Flatpak or AppImages. To install it, you will need a running instance of Linux and a user with sudo privileges.
I will show you how to install Caprine on both Ubuntu and Debian and RHEL and Fedora-based distributions. To make this simple, I will demonstrate the use of both Snap and Flatpak, because that will cover almost any Linux distribution.
Ready? Let’s do this.
Install on Ubuntu and Debian-based distributions
The first thing to do is open a terminal window because, yes, we are installing from the command line.
Also: How to install Linux applications from the command line
The command to install Caprine with Snap is:
sudo snap install caprine
Allow the installation to complete, and once it’s done, you’ll find the Caprine app in your desktop menu. Open it up, log in with your Facebook account credentials, and head to town with the message.
Install on RHEL and Fedora-based distributions
Now let’s move on to Flatpak. This is done in a very similar way to Snap. Just open a terminal in your RHEL and Fedora based distro and install Caprine with:
Once it’s installed, open the app, sign in, and start chatting.
If you’re like me, you’ll find Caprine an excellent solution to a problem you didn’t even realize you had. Give the app a try and see if it quickly becomes your go-to for all your Facebook Messenger chats.
