Meta brings in a new era for Messenger and WhatsApp where it would be interoperable among third-party messaging apps as part of its compliance with the upcoming EU Digital Markets Act law taking effect later this year. Through these new changes, the company will make sending messages, audio and video calling, sharing files, and more available through a wide variety of communication apps.
This is the extent to which was required of Meta to comply with the European Union law, offering EU developers to be compatible with its apps.
Meta Messenger, WhatsApp Bring interoperability to Third-Party Apps
Meta's recent blog post detailed its move towards interoperability with Messenger and WhatsApp, its two communication platforms widely used worldwide. This new compliance brings Messenger and WhatsApp a cross-platform experience that would allow them to connect to third-party messaging apps, offering communication features available.
According to Meta, the EU law is taking effect this March 7, and with this move, interoperability offers are now available for developers to adopt but would be under Meta's tech. This includes end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and other privacy features that it already set up.
Moreover, this will be a privacy-centric approach for Meta's cross-platform messaging feature, requiring developers to adhere to its Signal Protocol, its foundational piece in this encrypted experience.
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Interoperable Meta Communication Apps for Developers
Meta detailed the new experiences coming, with the company soon to publish the WhatsApp Reference Offer which will outline the requirements the company will ask of third-party developers for this feature to be possible. Meta and the third-party publishers will have to sign an agreement for this interoperability to work, with the company not yet mentioning messaging platforms as part of this new experience.
Meta's Compliance with the EU DMA
One of the earliest plans of Meta to comply with the EU's sweeping legislation, the DMA, is to bring the WhatsApp instant messaging platform to be interoperable with third-party messaging apps. This offers cross-platform experiences where users no longer have to jump from WhatsApp to, say, Telegram to message each other, with Meta positioning itself in the midst of it all.
This also means the interoperability of Messenger and WhatsApp on the platform, along with those looking to join them.
However, while Meta is compliant with the EU's new law, there were early appeals by the company regarding certain prohibitions of the upcoming legislation.
Last year, Meta brought up their case to appeal the inclusion of Messenger and the Marketplace in these regulations, with the European Commission wanting a fairer market across the tech industry.
Like Apple, Google, and more, Meta was labeled as one of the "gatekeepers" under the ramping EU law, and this means that it has to comply with the regulations and change the setup amongst its platforms. One of the most significant changes from Meta is this cross-platform experience for Messenger and WhatsApp, leveraging its app to be interoperable among third-party messaging apps.
