Franz: Whatsapp does not open - says it needs a newer version of chrome

[ifireball]

Expected Behavior

Whatsapp should work

Current Behavior

When trying to access whatsapp the following message shows up:

WhatsApp works with Google Chrome 36+
To use WhatsApp, update Chrome or use Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge or Opera.

Possible Solution

Perhaps update the version of Electron being used internally?

Steps to Reproduce (for bugs)

1. Setup a Whatsapp account in Franz

Your Environment

• Franz Version used: Version: 5.0.0-beta.18 Release: 1.8.4 / linux / x64
  (Installed via AppImage)
• Operating System and version: RHEL 7.6 x86_64

[jgabriel98]

Same problem here. but in Steps to Reproduce i didn't had to setup Whatsapp account, i just opened the Whatsapp service (wich was already setted up ) and got this error.

[mini890]

Same problem occured on Windows using Version 5.0.0-beta.18.

[chivalryx]

Same. Was working fine yesterday. Web version (in a real browser) works fine.

[jomobro]

Same problem on Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS, Franz 5.0.0-beta.19

[pedrolarben]

Yesterday I had same problem. It got fixed today. Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS.

[philcryer]

Yesterday I had same problem. It got fixed today. Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS.

Assume you mean in master, and not in a release. Still an issue in 5.0.0-beta-18 win10, that's the latest via the site and 'releases' link here.

[ptrj]

Maybe it's not a problem of Franz app. Maybe Whatsapp block or wrong parse user agent of Franz?

Mozilla/5.0 (Your OS HERE) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Franz/5.0.0-beta.18 Chrome/59.0.3071.115 Electron/1.8.4 Safari/537.36

[closingin]

I don't have any problem on my side, weird.

[jomobro]

Fixed now

[mini890]

Reloading the service a few days later and no longer have any issue.

[KarlVanSnail]

Delete and Re-Add the Whatsapp service resolve this issue for me.

[brunofunnie]

Same here, but deleting and adding again didn't work for me.

My Environment

• Franz Version used:
  Version: 5.0.0-beta.18 (installed via deb file)
  Release: 1.8.4 / linux / x64
• Operating System and version:
  Pop! OS (18.04 LTS) clean install just with Chrome (installed from google's deb)

[manyasone]

Same problem for me, since yesterday.
I just updated from Version 4 to 5 (because of this issue).
Re-adding the WhatsApp-account didn't work either.

• Version: 5.0.0-beta.18
  Release: 1.8.4 / win32/ x64
• Operating System and version:
  * Windows 10 Pro
  * Version 1803
  ** Build 17134.407

[daren-thomas]

I have the same problem. Deleting and re-adding the WhatsApp account _does_ work, but only temporarily, as in, re-starting the computer will revert back to the symptoms described above.

• Version: 5.0.0-beta.18
• Release: 1.8.4 / win32 / x64
• OS: Windows 10 Pro

[helmar74]

Same problem here.
Updated to Version 5.
Now Whatsapp isnt' working.
Errormessage:

WhatsApp works with Google Chrome 36+
To use WhatsApp, update Chrome or use Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge or Opera.

[Youli4n]

Same Problem

• Version: 5.0.0-beta.18
• OS: macOS High Sierra Version 10.13.6

[xpand-it]

Same problem - but removal of service, turn off application and add whatsapp service again solve my problem (did not work only removal and adding again - have to turn it off).

• Version: 4.0.4 (build 40)
• Release: 1.3.1 / win32 / x64
• OS: Windows 10 Pro (10.0.17134 Build 17134)

BTW: Seems like there is no active development for last few months? :-)

[closingin]

Hello @DjMcBee , the development went quiet because Stefan got sick, things are going back to normal, but there's a lot of issues to take care of now :slightly_smiling_face:

[manyasone]

Same problem - but removal of service, turn off application and add whatsapp service again solve my problem (did not work only removal and adding again - have to turn it off).

Removing whatsapp, uninstalling and reinstalling franz, adding whatsapp again did not solve the issue.

Removing whatsapp once more and adding it again did the trick for some reason - but only until restarting franz. Then, the same problem occured again.

[xpand-it]

Hello @DjMcBee , the development went quiet because Stefan got sick, things are going back to normal, but there's a lot of issues to take care of now 🙂

Hello @closingin, thanks for the information - glad to hear that. Anyways i appreciate your work a lot guys ...

[gitanoqevaporelmundoentero]

Same problem here. I've got it fixed on my Ubuntu 18.04 installation with Franz Version: 5.0.0-beta.18 (Release: 1.8.4 / linux / x64) simply by right-clicking on WhatsApp service icon and selecting "reload".

[Wouter0100]

Seems to be a permanent issue now.

[valentinconesa]

Same problem here with Ubuntu 16.04. It works reloading whatsapp service.

[ivorafael]

Same problem here.

Franz Version 5.0.0-beta.18 (5.0.0-beta.18.903)
MacOS Mojave Version 10.14.1 (18B75)

[ecavalcanti]

+1

[ergelo]

+1. I updated Franz today and it worked briefly. Tonight it shows the same error again. On OSX 10.13.6

[medloch]

+1 the same here, since yesterday
FRANZ last version;
OS 10.13.6

[jgabriel98]

removing and adding the service did not work, but reinstalling the last version of franz fixed the issue for me.

[jbiskofski]

Same issue. On Mac

[strom18]

Same problem here :

Ubuntu 18.04
Version: 5.0.0-beta.18
Release: 1.8.4 / linux / x64

I delete and add again the whatsapp service and everything works fine now.

[trashtatur]

Same issue in Windows 10 and Archlinux. Tested that on 3 devices now. Sometimes reloading the service fixes it for one session, but thats all.

[peerberberich]

Same Issue:
Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS
Franz 5.0.0 & 4.0.4

[karanbajaj23]

Same issue - "WhatsApp works with Google Chrome 36+"
Same observation - On removing and re-adding WhatsApp service, it works. Upon restart, same error shows up.

Disable/Enable service - No effect.
Reload service - No effect.

Removing, adding and authenticating service is a pain. Considering how much of Franz tends to be WhatsApp, guess we got to solve this soon.

[Noam-greenberrg]

Same issue
"WhatsApp works with Google Chrome 36+"
macos 10.13.4 HS

[masbog]

Same problem here :

Ubuntu 18.04
Version: 5.0.0-beta.18
Release: 1.8.4 / linux / x64

I delete and add again the whatsapp service and everything works fine now.

not work for me on MacOSX :(

[shar1z]

+1
MacOS 10.13.6 (HS)

[juliann]

+1
win 10 Pro 17763.134 Version 1809

[reginastracii]

+1 Ubuntu 18.10 and Mojave 10.14.1

[nunesdev]

+1 Mojave 10.14

[geilix10]

+1 Mojave 10.14
Have this issue since a few days

[laerteg]

few minutes ago I installed alternative tool called Rumbox and the same behavior, when I added the whatsapp service the same message related to chrome update. My OS Linux Mint 18.2

[NikolaiSzabados]

+1 Win 10 Pro

[closingin]

Hello, as announced here, the problem is being investigated and a fix will surely come soon. You don't need to confirm the bug anymore, we're all aware of this :wink:

[derrenbrown]

This issue is really a bug in WhatsApp web client. Wouldn't it be more direct if we - the victims - request WhatsApp to fix it?

I did that by clicking on "Web and Desktop" at this page:
https://www.whatsapp.com/contact/?subject=messenger

[pichirichi]

Hello, as announced here, the problem is being investigated and a fix will surely come soon. You don't need to confirm the bug anymore, we're all aware of this 😉

The suggested workaround in the post is not working.

[adlk]

Please try to disable/enable WhatsApp if this error appears. Does this help?

[Wouter0100]

@adlk unfortunately not :(

[adlk]

😞
As far as I know, it's an issue with WhatsApps service worker. I seems that a new approach is necessary.

[jbiskofski]

For what its worth,

As a temporary solution I installed Franz v4, and WhatsApp works correctly there. So however v4 handles the service still works.

[pluralism]

Currently I'm using Fiddler as a workaround. You can add the following code at the end of OnBeforeRequest method:

C# if(oSession.HostnameIs("web.whatsapp.com")) { oSession.oRequest["User-Agent"] = "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/70.0.3538.110 Safari/537.36"; }

You only need to use Fiddler while logging in. Once you're logged in, whatsapp will work even without Fiddler.

[bvrulez]

I have the same problem of a Laptop using Win 10 and Franz 4.0.4. Deleting and re-adding does not solve the issue. On my PC with Win 10 Franz works fine.

[adlk]

Locking in favor of #1185