The whatsapp-desktop package should be removed from Linux Mint's Software Manager. It is unsupported and broken. The developer of that package has stated that he abandoned the project because Facebook issued DCMA Takedown Notice for all projects on GitHub with "Whatsapp" in the name. He also stated that Facebook keeps modifying the API to make it difficult to use in unsupported software.
The only supported/approved way to use Whatsapp on the desktop is via the Whatsapp web client (https://web.whatsapp.com/) which is very easy to use via Linux Mint's Web Apps. Therefore the "whatsapp-desktop" package is no longer necessary, maintained, or supported and should be removed.
So why is this package still installable through the Software Manager? If the project was forked, the fork is not being maintained either, and it is also not supported by Facebook.
Remove whatsapp-desktop package from repo
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Do not post support questions here. Before you post read: Where to post ideas & feature requests
Do not post support questions here. Before you post read: Where to post ideas & feature requests
Re: Remove whatsapp-desktop package from repo
There was an issue open for this on the GitHub project, and that was handled today. There were too many problems with whatsapp-desktop as you noted. It was removed from the Linux Mint repository earlier today. Linux Mint suggests to try Whatsie instead: https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.ktechpit.whatsie. Whatsie is available through Software Manager (mintinstall).