New news for WhatsApp users. The most popular messaging app in the world is preparing for a big change that will allow interoperability with other messaging applications such as Telegram. What does it mean? Well, what Users will be able to receive messages sent from these other apps on WhatsApp. But it is not a change that WhatsApp has come up with just because, it is a measure that is promoted by the European Union within the Digital Markets Law.
This law applies to those technology companies that exceed 75.000 million euros in market capitalization. They are between them Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft or Meta (parent company of WhatsApp). The measure seeks to encourage competition between large technology companies. So, WhatsApp is forced to open up to interoperability due to its enormous number of users.
Why is this change being made to WhatsApp?
Let us explain better to you about the whatsapp news that are coming. The EU Digital Markets Law has designated WhatsApp as “gatekeeper” for having more than 45 million active users per month and being owned by Meta, with a capitalization of more than 75.000 million euros.
The regulations have established a series of basic services of all these companies that we have named that must be opened to competition. In the case of WhatsApp, it is required to be interoperable with the rest of the messaging apps that meet the requirements. Which The goal is to open these digital services so popular so that users can communicate between different apps.
How will it affect users?
WhatsApp's engineering director, Dick Brouwer, explained in an interview how they will implement this interoperability imposed by the EU.
The first thing they explained is that will be an optional feature, so users will have to activate it manually if they want to start receiving messages from other applications within WhatsApp such as, for example, Telegram.
Messages from other messaging apps will be placed in a separate inbox at the top of the main screen, to clearly distinguish them from native WhatsApp chats.
But, one of the points highlighted by the company is that cannot guarantee the same level of security and encryption for messages from other apps. This is mainly because each of the apps has its own cryptographic protocols that may not be fully compatible.
Therefore, they recommend users exercise some caution with the information shared through these new bridges between applications.
What can be done between cross-applications with WhatsApp?
In principle, the interconnection between apps, according to WhatsApp, will support only certain functions, among them are:
- Send and receive text messages, images, voice notes and videos.
- Later, calls and group chats will also be added.
- It is not planned to be able to use other native WhatsApp functions with contacts from external apps. The experience will be limited to that separate message tray.
This change is expected to roll out soon, but there is no specific release date. If implemented, WhatsApp interoperability would set an important precedent for the messaging application industry, which has traditionally been closed and isolated from each other.
This definitely will make messaging services more open and connected, breaking barriers between them. The novelty would especially benefit users who will be able to expand their communication options. However, it remains to be seen if this change is worth it.