The Digital Markets Act has compelled WhatsApp to allow messages from other apps like Telegram or Signal.
This significant change WhatsApp must adhere to is already being implemented with a new version in the beta, indicating the potential consequences of using this new experience. The chat app owned by Meta must make room on its main screen to display messages the user receives from apps like Telegram, Signal, and others.
The Digital Markets Act is forcing tech giants to make substantial changes to their most popular apps, albeit reluctantly. The goal is to ensure enough space for less popular apps to “coexist,” thereby avoiding a potential monopoly as much as possible.
The ‘if you’re not on WhatsApp, you don’t exist’ mentality (as can be the case with Apple’s iMessage in the United States) is countered by the Digital Markets Act, which has forced the chat app to undergo a significant transformation in its experience. In fact, in the beta version 2.24.5.18 of WhatsApp for Android, users can find a welcome screen warning about the potential consequences of using these chats.
This information will be accessible to all chat app users through a screen that explains the warnings. These alerts do not mean the experience will be insecure since Telegram and others have sufficient measures to protect user privacy. Here are the warnings users will see:
You are chatting with someone outside of WhatsApp. Third-party apps will use a different type of end-to-end encryption.
Spam and abuse may be more common in third-party chats.
Third-party apps have their own guidelines and may manage user data differently.
And in small print: third-party chats are offered to users in European regions as required by their laws.
Below, users can find a button to activate third-party chats and another option for more information about this new experience. Essentially, it warns users that receiving a chat from another app may have consequences, especially in the possibility of receiving a malicious message. According to WaBetaInfo, the received message will not be linked to a name or photo, which sounds quite strange.
However, there’s no need for alarm. An app that can activate this feature to send its chats to WhatsApp will surely have sufficient resources to do so, meaning it will likely be limited to the most used apps like Telegram, Signal, and others. In other words, privacy and security will remain the same; the only difference is that messages from other apps will be received.