WhatsApp is a great mobile messaging app, but you might occasionally wish you could run it from a desktop, where you can take advantage of the full-sized keyboard and screen.

There’s no official desktop app available, but if you like the idea then you could try the extremely unofficial WhatsApp Desktop, an open source tool available for Windows, OS X and Linux.

Don’t get too excited: it’s much more basic than you think. Essentially the program is just a dedicated browser which acts as a front end for the web.whatsapp.com service.

Use WhatsApp on a full-size screen and keyboard

The end result isn’t something you can use with the desktop alone, because it is just a browser. There’s no desktop authentication, for instance – you get a QR code you must scan with WhatsApp on your phone, just as if you’d pointed your browser at web.whatsapp.com.

If there’s any value here, it’s in the way the executable can integrate with your operating system, launching when your system starts, displaying native notifications, a system tray icon with the number of notifications, giving right-click access to settings, and more.

WhatsApp Desktop is available now for Windows, Mac and Linux. Grab your copy now before the lawyers close it down.