WhatsApp will add support for cross-platform messaging

Cross-platform messaging support will soon be added to Meta's messaging app, which already supports end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Third-party chat support will enable users of other messaging apps to text WhatsApp users. Meta has stated that this feature will only be available to users who voluntarily sign up, in order to avoid cross-service spamming. The organization has confirmed that it is working to make cross-platform messaging possible ahead of the EU's March 6 deadline for the Digital Markets Act (DMA).Users will be able to send messages with different kinds of attachments when WhatsApp's upcoming chat interoperability is activated, WhatsApp Engineering Director Dick Brouwer told Wired. Messages received from users on other platforms will be reported to them through a new "Third Party Chats" section at the top of their chat list, which will also distinguish between chats that are encrypted with WhatsApp's E2EE technology and those that are not. 

 

Other chat platforms can connect to the Meta-owned chat platform in order to send and receive messages, and encrypt messages using the open source Signal Protocol. This allows them to message users of WhatsApp. According to Brouwer, WhatsApp is documenting its client-server protocol, which will enable other chat services to establish direct connections between their clients and WhatsApp's servers in order to send messages to users on different platforms.

According to the report, the third party chat feature will not support regular SMS messages. Calling and group chats across chat platforms will not be possible this year, in contrast to individual chats. Furthermore, according to Brouwer, the features of WhatsApp chats will advance more slowly than those of third-party chats. In order to avoid spam and scams, users will also need to explicitly consent to receive chats from third-party platforms.