WhatsApp Interoperability Arrives in Europe, Shaking Up Messaging Landscape

In the coming months, Meta is preparing to roll out third-party integrations with WhatsApp across Europe, a move mandated by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This significant change will allow users to access WhatsApp through other messaging apps, marking a shift in the messaging landscape.

According to Meta, the first third-party services to implement this messaging interoperability will be BirdyChat and Haiket, two lesser-known platforms. While the details of these integrations remain unclear, Meta has assured that WhatsApp's industry-leading end-to-end encryption (E2EE) will be maintained, ensuring the privacy and security of user communications.

European WhatsApp users will soon see a notification in their settings tab, explaining how to opt-in to these third-party messaging options. However, the functionality will be limited to WhatsApp's mobile apps, and will not extend to desktop, web, or tablet versions of the platform.

Meta has emphasized that third-party apps must adhere to the same E2EE standards as WhatsApp, and that the company itself will not have access to any encrypted messages in transit. The supported content types will include text, photos, videos, voice messages, and documents.