WhatsApp Launching Third-Party Chat Support Across EU Countries

[MacRumors]

WhatsApp is close to rolling out third-party chat support across the European Union, as part its compliance with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

WhatsApp parent company Meta is required by the DMA to make its messaging platform interoperable with other third-party services, and Meta says the first apps that WhatsApp will support are BirdyChat and Haiket, following successful testing over recent months.

WhatsApp users on iOS and Android who choose to make use of the interoperability support will be able to share messages, images, voice messages, videos, and files. Meta says there will also be an option to create groups with third-party users, once its partners are ready to support the feature. Meta did not mention web apps or desktop apps, suggesting this will be mobile-only interoperability.

According to Meta, third-party messaging apps must use the same level of end-to-end encryption as WhatsApp to maintain security standards.

From Meta's newsroom post:

Meta's partnerships with BirdyChat and Haiket is a result of more than three years of work with European messaging services and the European Commission to build a solution to third-party chats that meets the requirements of the DMA, while preserving privacy and security for users as much as possible.

This follows three core principles:

• Protecting user security and privacy: In line with DMA requirements, third-party messaging apps must use the same level of E2EE as WhatsApp.
• Clear and simple experience: We've provided users with a simple onboarding experience, while ensuring they understand the main differences between chats on WhatsApp and third-party chats.
• Available to European users: In line with DMA requirements, third-party chats will be available to people in the European Region.

Meta says that over the coming months, WhatsApp users in the European Region will begin seeing a notification in the app's Settings tab that will explain how they can opt-in to connect with people on third-party apps. Meta intends to "expand our interoperability offerings" as required by the DMA, and will provide updates on its progress as it rolls out further features in time.

In February 2024, WhatsApp claimed it had been working on interoperability for years, and that its work was only partially motivated by the DMA.

Article Link: WhatsApp Launching Third-Party Chat Support Across EU Countries

 

[Ctrlos]

Now if Apple can do the same I can use Beeper and ditch all the others for good.

 

[baryon]

They should add Messenger support, being the same company. I don't like Messenger but 99.9% of the people I talk to use it exclusively, no one uses Whatsapp even though it's better.

 

[ChrisMac47]

They should add Messenger support, being the same company. I don't like Messenger but 99.9% of the people I talk to use it exclusively, no one uses Whatsapp even though it's better.

And of course Apple Messages ...

 

[dg1974]

three years of work to add support to TWO completely unknown chat apps? what an effort! 😅

 

[iZac]

Oh! I’m forced to use What’sApp because it’s a default messaging app in the UK but it becomes almost unusable when you deny it access to your contacts list. This could be great news for me.

Also that damn ever-present Meta AI button - be gone with you!

EDIT: damn is this EU only? 🤬

 

[SilmarilFinder]

This reads like a bare minimum box tick to satisfy the regulation.

I can’t help wondering whether Meta has a quiet interest in these obscure firms. It is hard to imagine Zuck boy cheerfully handing over a slice of that sweet user data to genuine third parties.

 

[211]

I wish WhatsApp would work with iMessage. I hate using the WhatsApp app and prefer to just use iMessage

 

[kecinzer]

Please add support for FB Messenger and Telegram 😄

 

[Populus]

Let me see if I understand how this goes… does this mean I can communicate with WhatsApp users without having to install WhatsApp? Like, for instance, from iOS messages or Telegram apps…

 

[dannys1]

Let me see if I understand how this goes… does this mean I can communicate with WhatsApp users without having to install WhatsApp? Like, for instance, from iOS messages or Telegram apps…

It clearly says 1. It's for countries in the EU and 2. It'll only support BirdyChat and Haiket, so no.

 

[Mainyehc]

They should add Messenger support, being the same company. I don't like Messenger but 99.9% of the people I talk to use it exclusively, no one uses Whatsapp even though it's better.

I highly doubt they ever will, as they seem to be deprecating it. They’re already killing off their native iOS and macOS (and presumably Windows) apps, so… it’s gonna be web-only until its eventual demise (unless the European Commission and the US get serious about antitrust and force Meta to spin off WhatsApp, but that’s another matter entirely).

 

[ignatius345]

I just want something like the old iChat, where you could combine multiple messaging providers and protocols all under one roof. In a perfect world, messaging would be more like email, where you get to use whatever software you want, and can still message anyone else on any platform.

 

[Rob__Mac]

I just want something like the old iChat, where you could combine multiple messaging providers and protocols all under one roof. In a perfect world, messaging would be more like email, where you get to use whatever software you want, and can still message anyone else on any platform.

I was just thinking about iChat - this is the way things used to work. You'd have a client of your choice on your platform of choice…

 

[ignatius345]

Let me see if I understand how this goes… does this mean I can communicate with WhatsApp users without having to install WhatsApp? Like, for instance, from iOS messages or Telegram apps…

I believe so, but with some caveats: they have to be in the EU, and you have to be using "BirdyChat" or "Haiket" (or whatever platforms they may support later).

 

[bob24]

Please add support for FB Messenger and Telegram 😄

This is open to any other messaging App, but the publisher of the other App needs to work with Meta to enable connectivity.

The things is, pretty much any other major messaging App publisher isn’t interested either because they see it as a security/privacy risk, or because they feel it would give Meta too much of a competitive advantage. The likes of Signal and Telegram have already officially said they won’t do it, and Apple hasn’t said anything but it looks very doubtful.

So Meta will probably do it for FB Messenger, but I wouldn’t count on any other major App to be added.

 

[SpanishAppleNerd]

Now if Apple can do the same I can use Beeper and ditch all the others for good.

Same

 

[bob24]

Let me see if I understand how this goes… does this mean I can communicate with WhatsApp users without having to install WhatsApp? Like, for instance, from iOS messages or Telegram apps…

Only of those other Apps with with Meta to connect to their plateform.

And for now the major ones have been reluctant to do it. So you shouldn’t expect it anytime soon.

 

[bob24]

I just want something like the old iChat, where you could combine multiple messaging providers and protocols all under one roof. In a perfect world, messaging would be more like email, where you get to use whatever software you want, and can still message anyone else on any platform.

This is how it should be indeed: standard protocol, decentralised network of hosting providers, and choice of any client software you like which follows the protocol. Exactly like email but with IM functionality.

This is what Jabber/XMPP was trying to do. But after their initial support Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Apple basically killed it because at the time they all wanted to promote their own proprietary messaging service (MSN Messenger, Google Chat, FB Messenger, and iMessage) and use it to force users into their respective ecosystems. So they actually didn’t want email-style interoperability.

 

[ipedro]

They should add Messenger support, being the same company. I don't like Messenger but 99.9% of the people I talk to use it exclusively, no one uses Whatsapp even though it's better.

Yeah, I never understood why they've dragged their feet on this. It's their own app! At one point, they made Messenger and Instagram interoperable which was great because it was the start of finding all your messages in one place. Then they separated them again.

Now you have Facebook Messenger (and Messenger by itself without Facebook), Instagram DMs, Thread DMs, WhatsApp, and SMS, RCS and iMessages, not to mention if you have other apps with their own DMs like Tik Tok and Snapchat or if people want to reach you on Signal or Telegram.

It's ridiculous and at one point I just decided not to participate. I deleted all those apps, if someone wants to reach me, they know my phone number. Hopefully RCS grows in popularity and unifies this insanity.

 

[bob24]

Yeah, I never understood why they've dragged their feet on this. It's their own app! At one point, they made Messenger and Instagram interoperable which was great because it was the start of finding all your messages in one place. Then they separated them again.

Now you have Facebook Messenger (and Messenger by itself without Facebook), Instagram DMs, Thread DMs, WhatsApp, and SMS, RCS and iMessages, not to mention if you have other apps with their own DMs like Tik Tok and Snapchat or if people want to reach you on Signal or Telegram.

It's ridiculous and at one point I just decided not to participate. I deleted all those apps, if someone wants to reach me, they know my phone number. Hopefully RCS grows in popularity and unifies this insanity.

Related to WhatsApp and FB Messenger, I am wondering whether they are deliberately keeping them separate to maintain the facade that they are 2 different entities.

With those 2 Apps combined, Meta has a near-monopoly on messaging in many countries and they might be afraid of antitrust actions by multiple governments if them make it even slightly more obvious that they are basically the same service/provider under a different brand.

 

[Populus]

I believe so, but with some caveats: they have to be in the EU, and you have to be using "BirdyChat" or "Haiket" (or whatever platforms they may support later).

I’m from the EU, and everyone I use WhatsApp with is from my same country. In Spain WhatsApp is the primary instant messaging app. That’s why I would be happy getting rid of the only Meta app I have to have installed…

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Great news! Makes life easier for those of us that would rather avoid anything and everything Meta.

 

[justanotherdave]

But…but…but…I was assured by all the experts that RCS was going to eliminate the need for multiple chat Apps. 🙄

 

[Martin Bland]

According to Meta, third-party messaging apps must use the same level of end-to-end encryption as WhatsApp to maintain security standards.

Thanks to the EU’s regulation that is forcing Meta’s hand to interoperate with third-party messaging apps, this security guarantee now means absolutely nothing.

End-to-end encryption is meaningless when one end is compromised. Either because a user has been maliciously duped into downloading a compromised third-party app that Meta now must interoperate with. Or due to government pressure on a third-party app that doesn’t have Meta’s legal resources to fight government coercion and overreach - ad hoc Chat Control.