Phone messaging service, WhatsApp has announced that it will be allowing other messaging networks on its app.
This groundbreaking revelation was announced by WhatsApp engineering director, Dick Brouwer, in an interview with Wired.
“There’s real tension between offering an easy way to offer this interoperability to third parties whilst at the same time preserving the WhatsApp privacy, security and integrity bar. I think we’re pretty happy with where we’ve landed,” Dick told Wired.
Aside from WhatsApp, Meta is also working to add third-party chat support to its Messenger app, the messaging service for its Facebook app. Initially, these experiences will focus on one-on-one chats where people will be able to send text, audio, video, images and files through the different apps.
However, Brouwer said that the service will be an opt-out service to avoid spam and scams.
“I can choose whether or not I want to participate in being open to exchanging messages with third parties. This is important, because it could be a big source of spam and scams.”
EU Digital Markets Act
The reason for WhatsApp integrating third-party app support into WhatsApp is because it needs to be in line with the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), whose deadline is a month away.
The DMA mandates that gatekeeper apps such as WhatsApp and Messenger are to open their services to other chat apps.
If you know EU regulations, the you understand how they are a major determinant in the changes across the tech landscape. It was EU regulations that mandates phones to have the USB-C charging port, forcing Apple to change its charging port from its unique lighting charging port to the USB-C, first used in its iPhone 15 line of phones.
Thus, it remains to be seen how WhatsApp will implement this new regulation to its very popular phone messaging app.
