In the latest beta version of WhatsApp on iPhone, the application introduces one of the biggest changes in its history. There is actually a new section dedicated to “Third Party Conversations,” which refers to messages sent from other messaging applications. In other words: WhatsApp is slowly starting to bow to the DMA.
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Since 2022, WhatsApp has been preparing a small revolution in the world of messaging applications. This year, the European Union caused disruption in the industry by imposing interoperability on the largest players through its Digital Market Act. In other words, WhatsApp, iMessage and other messaging services known as “gatekeepers” must at some point allow their users to send messages between applications.
Since then, WhatsApp has been forced to work on the issue. In September 2023, Android smartphones became the first to be eligible for a new section in the Conversations tab titled “Third-Party Conversations.” Here, as the name suggests, all messages received from messaging services other than WhatsApp are summarized. As WABetaInfo reports, it is now the turn of iPhones to receive this new section in the latest beta 24.2.10.72 of the application.
WhatsApp is testing messaging interoperability on iPhone
In fact, it's simply a matter of bringing functionality tested on Android last school year to iPhone. Therefore, nothing new under the sun other than confirmation that WhatsApp continues to work on the interoperability of its messages. The company actually has no choice: as a gatekeeper, it will have to comply with the new DMA restrictions sooner or later.
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Please note that at the request of the European Union, this functionality can be activated and deactivated depending on the user's wishes. However, it is difficult to imagine that the latter would want to give up this functionality, which makes it possible to consolidate a large part of their conversations in a single application. Additionally, these conversations require end-to-end encryption to be maintained, which is why the feature will take some time to roll out.
Source: WABetaInfo