WhatsApp is preparing the platform to allow cross-platform messaging which is a big move for the company. The Meta-owned messaging app is being forced into complying by the European Union (EU), just like Apple, where the new rules come into effect from March 2024. What this means is that WhatsApp will have to allow people from other messaging apps to send and receive chats from its app.
The support will be limited to the EU regions but it is fascinating to see a scenario where a WhatsApp user is able to chat with a Telegram or Signal user. However, as explained by a WhatsApp engineering director this week, these changes and third-party app support will be only possible if they decide to agree on one big condition from Meta.
He mentions that WhatsApp will allow cross-platform messaging which includes text, images, voice notes, and even files from one app to another. But Dick Brouwer in an interview with Wired says that WhatsApp wants all the messaging services to support its platform use the same Signal Protocol that provides encryption for messages.
Having said that, WhatsApp’s parent company Meta is open to using different encryption protocols but they have to match the security standards that WhatsApp deems adequate for its support. So, let’s say WhatsApp gets its wishes and opens the platform to work with other apps, how will it look for the users and will WhatsApp only cater to the EU customers with these changes? Brouwer pointed out that messages from other apps coming to WhatsApp will see them in a new section/tab in their main WhatsApp screen.
The messaging app hasn’t clearly said if the cross-platform feature will be opened to all its users, even in India but going by the timeline, it would be surprising if the Meta-owned app decides to have a wider roll out of this feature anytime soon.
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