WhatsApp will soon have to support conversations from other instant messengers. An interesting feature, which we discover this week in more detail, but which could however remain exclusive to the European market.
WhatsApp is working on implementing a new function allowing the platform to accommodate, within it, conversations from other instant messengers. The addition of this new feature results directly from the Digital Markets Act (DMA). It is in fact a rule imposed by the new European legislation against services and companies considered to be “ gatekeepers» — “access controllers”. It is therefore very possible that it will remain exclusive to the European market… and that other users will never have access to it.
In any case, this function was first mentioned in early February by Dick Brouwer, the director of engineering at WhatsApp. The person concerned was then mainly content to explain that support for third-party messaging would be optional. We also learned that messages from other applications would be displayed separately on WhatsApp, in a separate inbox. Thanks to WABetainfo today we know a little more.
Third-party messaging in WhatsApp, what to expect?
Known for its reliability, the specialized site shows us how this new feature will be deployed in WhatsApp, using screenshots taken on version 2.24.6.2 of the application for Android. We then discover that, indeed, users can deactivate conversations from third-party platforms as they wish, or only authorize the function for certain applications.
This second option had not yet been mentioned until now, and it could constitute an ideal in-between for many users.
Source: WABetaInfo
Source: WABetaInfo
WABetaInfo was notably able to capture the home screen of this new function. It reads, among other things, that “third-party app conversations are offered to users in the European region, as required by law», which once again suggests that only Europe will be affected by this addition. Contacted byAndroid AuthorityHowever, Meta has not commented on this at this stage.
On the other hand, we discover that group conversations originating from third-party applications will not be managed by WhatsApp. In the same vein, third-party audio and video calls will not be supported by the service either, which therefore seems determined to do only the minimum to comply with the new European legislation. This novelty seems, in any case, ready to be deployed on a large scale. So we shouldn’t have to wait long before we can test it for ourselves.
Remember that the European DMA comes into force on March 6.
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