Last Updated on January 31, 2024 by Dominic
Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that will allow it to receive messages from third party chat platforms, such as Signal, Telegram and Discord.
WhatsApp Could Soon Allow Third-Party Chats
WABetaInfo, a known WhatsApp tipster publication, discovered the new feature in the latest WhatsApp Beta for iOS 24.2.10.72 update, which is available on the TestFlight app.
The chat interoperability feature, called “Third-party Chats,” is being developed in response to the new European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to regulate the behavior of large tech companies named “gatekeepers” to ensure fair competition and make it easy for new tech companies to be successful.
“One key benefit stemming from the DMA and WhatsApp’s efforts to comply is the introduction of interoperability. Users will gain the ability to communicate with other people on WhatsApp using different messaging apps. Interoperability enables someone on a different messaging app, like Signal, to send messages to a WhatsApp user, even without a WhatsApp account. This facilitates more inclusive and diverse communication channels, enhancing the overall user experience,” WABetaInfo states in its report.
As mentioned in Article 7 of the DMA regulations, users will have to be in charge of this feature, as they will have to manually enable the interoperability service and have the option to opt out.
In addition, preserving end-to-end encryption in interoperable messaging systems ensures that cross-platform communication remains secure, offering a high degree of security.
Currently, the third-party chat support feature for the iOS version of WhatsApp is in development and will be available in a later app update.
