WhatsApp will change radically. Not in design, but with a function that has been talked about for years, and this will finally become a reality starting next March. We are talking about WhatsApp’s interoperability with other messaging applications. So, power read and send messages to other platforms without leaving the app.

This was confirmed to Wired by WhatsApp engineering director Dick Brouwer. “There is a real tension between providing an easy way to deliver this interoperability to third parties, but also maintaining WhatsApp’s level of privacy, security and integrity,” he explains.

This issue between interoperability and security is a debate Apple has echoed with iMessage; iMessage has also confirmed that it will adopt the RCS standard and will eventually make its way to Android.

This is how WhatsApp will change starting from March

The March date is not a coincidence. This is when the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into force in the European Union. new legislation This forces the “gatekeepers” to take a number of measures, including allowing their services to be interoperable. The truth is that Meta and WhatsApp are also included in this, and if they do not want to be sanctioned, they are forced to implement this radical change.

For the first time, WhatsApp will provide the ability to write to users of other messaging applications that have so far been direct competitors. This option will come and will continue to maintain end-to-end encryption.

It is not yet official which applications will be able to work with WhatsApp, but they are all expected to be applications that add compatibility with RCS. These include iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Signal, Skype, Google Messages or Telegram.

However, Brouwer explains that this “will be a solution built on top of WhatsApp’s existing client-server architecture.” This essentially means that the approach we are trying to take is to document our client-server protocol for WhatsApp and allow third-party clients. connect directly to our infrastructure“.

Meta and WhatsApp have had six months to work on the feature since they were named “gatekeepers” by European regulators last September.

Initially, interoperability will be in messages, images, voice messages, videos and files, later it will also be applied to calls and group chats.

This option to connect to other applications will be in the hands of the user. WhatsApp will allow you to enable this interoperability, and those who enable it will have a “Third Party Chats” menu at the top of the inbox where you can receive messages from outside WhatsApp.

Image | Adam AY

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