WhatsApp has been working on interoperability with other messaging platforms for over a year. Users will soon be able to send messages between different services as required by the EU’s Digital Markets Act. WhatsApp’s technical director has now revealed how this function can be implemented.
“Do you have Whatsapp, Signal or…?” The question of which messenger service new contacts prefer may soon be a thing of the past He cares Digital Markets Act, Kurz DMA, with which the European Commission seeks to prevent the dominance of large companies in the digital economy. Last year there were six “gatekeeper” Marks that have such a dominant market position. These include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Microsoft and Meta, which is behind Facebook and WhatsApp.
All chats in one app soon
After being “appointed” as gatekeepers, these organizations have six months to comply with the DMA’s requirements and, among other things, implement interoperability with third-party apps. this Deadline ends March 6, 2024. Days after being classified as a gatekeeper, the WABetaInfo site, which is always well-informed about WhatsApp news, discovered a settings page for “third-party chat” in the current beta version of the messenger.
The WhatsApp’s Technical Director, Dick BrowerNow it has become one Interview meets Wired Comment on planned changes. Compatibility with third-party chat will be improved Initially only between two people to send text messages, pictures, voice messages, videos and files Focus group chats and calls will follow later.
According to Brouwer, opening external chat apps not only has benefits for users, but also benefits that shouldn’t be underestimated. Security risk: Because numerous messenger apps use different encryption protocols with different security standards. For this reason, the same level of privacy and security cannot be maintained when integrating third-party services, according to Brouwer, which is currently being considered. Separate inbox for external chats To place.
Integration of third-party apps is left up to the user
In order not to expose WhatsApp users to increased risk of spam and fraud, they want them Let the person decide if they want to enable third-party chat integration. Also, there are many open questions like the security of user data or how users can be traced in other apps that don’t use phone numbers to create an account like WhatsApp. Interoperability features are still in the middle of development and will likely be adjusted in the next few months. “No one knows how it will work,” Brouwer himself admits, “we have no idea how big the demand will be.”
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