While we’re still eagerly awaiting the opportunity to finally create a WhatsApp username, the Meta team has introduced another feature. And that’s what it’s all about: WhatsApp now enables chats with other messengers.
This is made possible by the so-called “Third Party Chats”. There is no voluntary opening behind this, but a requirement from Brussels: The new function meets the requirements of the Digital Markets Act, with which the EU obliges digital platforms to be more open. Third-party chats in WhatsApp should be available “soon”. What exactly is meant by this is unclear. A WhatsApp support page states that the feature is already available “now”. Elsewhere, however, it is said that it will start “in the coming months”.
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What you should know about the new third-party chats
The function allows you to do this directly Write to other messenger services via WhatsApp – i.e. without using additional tools. At the start, this only works on Android smartphones and iPhones. In addition, the only messengers supported so far are Birdychat and Haiket.
More apps are to follow, but this depends on whether the respective developers make their systems compatible and allow them to be activated by WhatsApp. Signal and Threema have decided against this for data protection reasons.
Chats with third-party services are a little different than usual. For example, certain convenience functions such as: Do not use stickers or status messages.
Whether you want to mix third-party chats in your inbox with your normal conversations or separate them is up to you – both options are possible. Good to know: Users you block may be able to contact you through third-party chats.
Availability, data protection and whatever else is important
An important note first: The function is only in the EU available. The decisive factor for the evaluation is the location from which the phone number stored in WhatsApp comes.
There are also a few things to consider when it comes to data protection. Although all chats remain end-to-end encrypted, the following applies Third-party services often have different privacy policies. WhatsApp points out that your phone number can be visible to others – but no data will be shared beyond that.
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