WhatsApp Beta Update Points to Cross Platform Messaging

A new update for WhatsApp on Android has introduced a section called “Third-party chats,” as reported by WABetaInfo.

Currently, this section doesn’t do anything and users can’t use it.

However, its name strongly suggests that it might be a step towards allowing Meta’s encrypted messaging app to work with other platforms.

Recently, the European Commission stated that Meta, the owner of WhatsApp, falls under the category of a “gatekeeper” according to the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

This means that by March 2024, WhatsApp and similar apps must be compatible with other messaging apps.

The goal of this law is to make sure that big companies don’t unfairly control digital services.

It also gives users the freedom to remove apps that come pre-installed on their devices or use different app stores.

Both Meta and Microsoft are getting ready to launch their own app stores in response to this law.

The European Commission is also looking into whether Apple’s iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing search engine and other services meet the requirements of this new regulation.