Europe is going to change WhatsApp forever after the application fell into the bag of gatekeepers. As such should allow other apps to send messages to WhatsApp users that is, interoperability.
What’s more, time is running out, since the deadline for the implementation of this first phase of WhatsApp interoperability is next March 6, in 42 days. Now We have an idea of ​​how it will work and the somewhat questionable implementation seems like it won’t make it easy for us to talk to people who use other apps.
Your chats from other apps, somewhere else
WhatsApp, with more than 3 billion users worldwide, is one of the clearest gatekeepers for the European Union and, as such, must be governed by the obligations imposed in terms of interoperability. In plain language, should allow users of other applications to send chats to WhatsApp users, in an official and standardized way.
It’s not an easy task so will be carried out in three phases, the first of which is the most basic and imminent: allowing the sending of standard text messages between individual users. That is, without groups, calls or video calls. This first phase must be ready by March 6. These are the key dates:
- March 6, 2024: It is possible to send text messages between individual users from other applications to WhatsApp.
- September 6, 2025: It is possible to send text messages in groups between different applications.
- September 6, 2027: It is possible to make calls and video calls, group or not, between different applications.
And how will this be reflected in WhatsApp? From the hand of WaBetaInfo we obtain a key element with a screenshot that shows that Third party chats will be a separate folder in our chat list, such as archived chats or fingerprint-protected chats.
This means that chats from other applications will not be combined with WhatsApp chats and it will be a little more difficult to find out that a message has arrived from these external sources than when they do so on WhatsApp. Presumably, yes, we continue to receive notifications and some indication that there are messages pending reading in said folder, but it is not the same as if the chats were integrated with the rest.
The European Commission forces Meta to allow other applications to send messages to their users, but it is up to you how to implement it. And, if there are no changes, WhatsApp has chosen not to make it easy to discourage use of an opening of their network that does not seem to excite them too much. After all, WhatsApp is now 15 years old and interoperability has never been a priority.
There are 42 days left until the deadline by which WhatsApp must allow messages from third-party applications, although we must remember that third party applications must implement the functionality to write messages to WhatsApp users, so it will probably take us a little longer to be able to try it for ourselves.
Cover image | Generated with AI
Via | WaBetaInfo
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