WhatsApp update appears to bring conversations from other platforms into app

‘Interoperability’ is required by new European laws

(AFP via Getty Images)

WhatsApp looks set to allow its users to communicate with other apps soon.

An update, discovered by WABetaInfo, includes references to third-party chats. That suggests that it could soon turn on a feature that would allow users to message other platforms such as Signal or Telegram.

WhatsApp parent company Meta is one of a number of those covered by Europe’s incoming Digital Markets Act, which goes into effect this week. It requires large companies, known as “Gatekeepers” to include interoperability with other, third-party messaging platforms.

In advance of the new rules, WhatsApp has hinted at third-party support – and has included references to it in its new terms. But the incoming new update will actually bring that feature, at least to some of its users.

References in early versions of the app show a screen telling users that they are “messaging someone outside of WhatsApp”. It warns that third-party apps might not have the same security protections, that “spam and scams may be more common in third-party chats”, and that they might use data differently.

Users are then given the option to click a button to “turn on” the feature and start chatting with people on other platforms.

WhatsApp has said that the feature will be opt-in when it arrives. That is because it “could be a big source of spam and scams”, an engineer told Wired last month.

It has not said whether the feature will be restricted to Europe. However, the screenshot posted by WABetaInfo includes a disclaimer saying that third-party chats “are offered to our European Region users as required by law” – suggesting that it will not be available elsewhere.

There will also be other limitations with third-party chats. Group chats will not function, nor will voice and video calls.

Other companies have opted to restrict the new tools required by the DMA to those in Europe. Apple, for instance, will only allow users in the EU to use third-party app stores.