WhatsApp is allowing EU users to chat with contacts from other messengers for the first time – thanks to new rules that open the service to external apps.
WhatsApp is introducing a new function in Europe that allows users from the European Union to write to users of other messengers. The background is the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which obliges large platform operators to open their services to each other – the so-called interoperability obligation. If you use a phone number registered in the EU, the “Third-party chats” section will soon appear in the settings. There you decide whether you want to receive messages from external apps in WhatsApp.
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Digital Markets Act (DMA): What is it actually?
von Florian Bodoky
At the start, only a few previously unknown messengers work with WhatsApp – for example Birdy Chat or Haiket. However, the interface is basically open to all services as long as they adhere to the technical specifications. WhatsApp requires end-to-end encryption that meets its own standards. Some well-known apps, such as Signal or Threema, deliberately forego integration because they consider WhatsApp’s protective measures to be too lax and do not approve of parent company Meta’s data collection.
Only in the EU – and without group chats
If you activate the function, you will receive messages from external messengers in a separate area, separate from your regular WhatsApp chats. At the moment this only works with individual chats. WhatsApp does not yet support group conversations, status posts or automatically disappearing messages. The web and desktop versions are also being left out for the time being, while Android and iOS users will receive the innovation gradually.
What: Meta
You can revoke your approval at any time. If you later switch to a phone number outside the EU, the option will automatically disappear because the new rules only apply in the EU market. This is intended to give smaller knives the chance to grow and the industry to become more innovative – until now, a truly free choice of messenger failed because WhatsApp is so widespread that you can only reach a few of your contacts without the app.
Cover image: Shutterstock
4 people like this article
Since I found out how you can activate both telephone channels with the ISDN card for a larger bandwidth, I’ve been tinkering with digital networks. Since I could speak, on analogues. Winterthur resident with a red and blue heart.
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