Hello, friends. The current communications could be said to be at their best. Many tools and services are oriented to it. Today, in this post, you will learn how to install Viber desktop client on Ubuntu 20.04.
What is Viber?
Viber is a mobile messaging service similar to WhatsApp or Telegram. It features messaging and files sending like any other but its principal distinction is that Viber focuses on calls.
So, Viber has support for calls of very good quality that even exceeds those of Whatsapp or Telegram. It is widely used in certain sectors where the security of data transmission is a priority.
Also, your conversations on Viber between all the devices you use, whether mobile, tablet, or desktop, are fully synchronized.
Other features include group chat, sticker creation, shredding messages, and the ability to install it on distribution such as Ubuntu.
Unlike Whatsapp, Viber offers a native client for Linux. This makes it much more convenient to use it from your computer without interrupting your workflow.
Another point where it differs from Whatsapp or Telegram is the possibility of creating communities. Communities are the new social network and the best way to bring people together. To give us an idea, imagine a group chat, only with no limit on the number of members, more administration control, and new conversation features.
Viber takes security very seriously because the encryption keys exist only on the user’s devices and nowhere else. So no one, not even Viber, can read your messages.
So, let’s install it.
Install Viber Desktop App on Ubuntu 20.04 / Linux Mint 20
Viber has a download section where you can find the DEB package for Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives. Also, you can download the APPImage which should work on any distribution.
So, go to the Viber website and proceed to download the package.
Also, you can download it via terminal with the help of the wget command
wget https://download.cdn.viber.com/cdn/desktop/Linux/viber.deb
Then to install it, double click on the package or simply run this command in the terminal.
sudo apt install ./viber.deb
This will install it and when finished, you will be able to run it from the main menu.
When you run it, configure your account so you can enjoy the service.
Alternatively, you can use Viber by downloading the APPImage file provided. To do this download it from the website or via wget.
wget https://download.cdn.viber.com/desktop/Linux/viber.AppImage
Assign it to run permissions
chmod +x viber.AppImage
And run it by double-clicking on the file. Enjoy it.
Removing Viber on Ubuntu 20.04
In case you no longer want to use Viber, you can uninstall it in the following way
sudo apt remove viber
If you used the APPImage, then, there is nothing to uninstall, just remove the file and you are done.
Conclusion
Viber is a messaging veteran that although it is not so popular it has an important market share. Also, its Linux support is quite good which makes it a solid alternative to others.
