Meta has announced that WhatsApp will begin rolling out third-party messaging interoperability for users across Europe, in line with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). This new feature, called third-party chats, allows WhatsApp users to communicate with people using other messaging apps that choose to integrate with WhatsApp. BirdyChat and Haiket will be the first external services to adopt this functionality following several months of controlled testing.
The initiative is designed to give users more flexibility while upholding key privacy and security protections. To comply with DMA requirements, participating third-party apps must support the same level of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) as WhatsApp. Meta has built an onboarding process that informs users about how third-party chats differ from standard WhatsApp conversations, with the option to enable or disable the feature at any time.
Once activated, WhatsApp users in Europe will be able to exchange messages, images, videos, voice notes, and files with users on supported external platforms. Group chats with third-party services will be introduced once partners are ready. Meta developed this system over three years in collaboration with the European Commission and messaging service providers, and will continue expanding interoperability features as required under the DMA.
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