As of: March 13, 2024, 3:08 p.m
By: Vivian Werg
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WhatsApp users should also be reachable via another messenger app in the future.
How it works and what exactly is behind the innovation.
Munich – Until now, anyone who wanted to communicate via messenger had to agree on an app.
Some of the online services have a “gatekeeper” function, as the European Commission found – they dominate the market.
In addition to Amazon and Apple, these also include WhatsApp and Meta.
In order to curb this dominant market position, such as that of WhatsApp, and thus ensure fairer market conditions, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into force on March 7, 2024.
While the innovation is intended to stimulate competition, it brings users of WhatsApp and other messengers a simple but big advantage.
What is a Gatekeeper?
According to the EU Commission, gatekeeper criteria are met when a company has a strong economic position with a significant impact on the internal market and is active in several EU countries.
It also has a large user base, connects with a large number of companies and has a consolidated and lasting position in the market.
EU regulation: Meta opens its messenger platform to third parties
Until now, anyone who wanted to communicate with each other via messenger was bound to both people using the same service.
This is no longer the case.
With the update, WhatsApp users can also chat with contacts who use other messenger apps such as Telegram or Signal.
Even if they don’t have a WhatsApp account themselves.
Conversely, it should also be possible in the future to write to a user from Telegram on WhatsApp.
Third-party messengers can register directly with WhatsApp and conclude a contract with Meta.
Although the registration process is simple for third-party providers, Meta says it may take longer until the functionality is ready for public use.
The company states that it can take up to three months for this interoperability to be fully available after a messenger has been registered.
With the new EU regulation coming into force, Meta must open its messenger platforms to third parties © Fabian Sommer/dpa
New EU regulation: What does this mean specifically for gatekeepers?
With the new EU regulation, gatekeepers must adhere to certain prohibitions and requirements.
These include:
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Allow third parties to interoperate with the gatekeeper's own services in certain situations.
Allow business users to access the data they generate when using the Gatekeeper Platform.
Provide companies advertising on their platform with the necessary tools and information to carry out their own, independent review of their advertising on the Gatekeeper platform.
Enabling commercial users to promote their offering and conclude contracts with their customers outside of the Gatekeeper platform.
According to Meta, it must ensure “interoperability with other messenger apps – provided they meet a number of requirements, including technical and security requirements”.
Big WhatsApp change: In the future, users will also be able to communicate with other messengers
According to Engineering at Meta's
messaging platform
, the following features are planned in the first year of interoperability:
1:1 text messaging between individual users.
The sharing of images, voice messages, videos and other attached files between individual end users.
Further functions such as group chats as well as voice and video chats are to follow in the future.
What initially sounds practical and simple is a bit more complex to implement.
According to Meta, it is a “technical challenge” and the team has been working with the EU Commission for two years to ensure interoperability while continuing to comply with data protection and security standards.
A new update was recently introduced to protect user privacy.
More WhatsApp changes planned
In Germany, WhatsApp is the most used messenger.
It is still unclear which messengers will ultimately choose to connect to WhatsApp.
As schmidtisblog.de
writes, interest is
still rather low so far.
But that could still change, because cross-platform communication makes it easier for many people to exchange information, especially with contacts who may use other messenger services abroad.
Around two billion active users worldwide use the instant messaging app.
With a new WhatsApp function, the app will soon be able to be used without a phone number.
In order to offer users a consistently satisfying experience, the development of WhatsApp never stands still.
The “view once” function recently received an update.
Further WhatsApp changes are expected to follow this year.
(vw)