WhatsApp is experimenting with a unique feature that no other messenger has
WhatsApp developers are working on several innovations, including one very useful feature – support for communication with users of other messengers. The settings that should enable this option have been spotted in the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android.
The user will be able to go to WhatsApp settings and open access to other messengers, so people will be able to write to them in this messenger, even if they use other programs. You can also specify which messengers you want to use for correspondence.
Currently, these settings are mostly empty, so you won’t be able to use the new feature yet. Obviously, WhatsApp developers face a very difficult and ambitious task, as they need to ensure that their messenger is compatible with other people’s data transfer protocols, and their code is mostly closed.
Don’t think that cross-messenger communication is an initiative of WhatsApp developers, not at all. The fact is that they are obliged to implement it at the request of the European Commission, which recently adopted a new version of the Digital Markets Act (the same law that should allow third-party iOS app stores). It is possible that WhatsApp compatibility with other messengers will appear exclusively in the EU countries, and it will be blocked in other territories, as the European Commission’s requirements do not apply to all countries.
