WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is preparing to offer cross-platform messaging. This means users of the app will soon be able to communicate directly with people using apps like Telegram or Signal.
While the company has been developing a technical solution for this integration for the last two years; It ensures that stringent end-to-end encryption standards remain in place. While this change provides more messaging options, it wasn’t entirely WhatsApp’s idea.
Recent European Union legislation defines Meta as a “technology gatekeeper”, requiring WhatsApp to open its communications platform to other services within a six-month period. Therefore, it can easily be said that this is an act of necessity.
Shortly before the deadline, the outlines of how the cross-platform messaging experience will work are also being outlined. In the first stage, the focus will be on basic features such as exchanging text, images, videos, voice messages and files between two people.
More advanced features like calls and group chats will be available later. Dick Brouwer, WhatsApp’s director of engineering, stated that users must manually enable this cross-platform messaging experience to avoid potential “spam and scams.”
WhatsApp will show conversations received from other platforms in a separate tab
Users who sign up for the service will see conversations from other platforms in a separate “third-party chats” section on WhatsApp. Likewise, messaging apps that want to connect to WhatsApp will need to sign a contract and comply with Meta’s terms. Therefore, it will of course take time to fully implement this feature. However, detailed plans are expected to be shared in March.