WhatsApp has constantly made updates to its app, which is why it remains as one of the more popular options if you’re looking to securely communicate with family, friends, and colleagues. While there haven’t been too many major changes over the past few months, we are still looking forward to registering our own username when that option becomes available.
However, a new feature has popped up in the beta, and this is one of those that’s going to be a game changer. Currently, WhatsApp is testing support for third-party messaging apps. That’s right, at some point, you’ll be able to chat with people outside of WhatsApp without any additional tools or steps involved.
A huge feature many won’t have access to
However, before you get too excited, this feature looks to be locked to certain regions, which means it most likely won’t be coming to those outside of Europe. The news comes from WABetaInfo, shedding light that this update is now rolling out to those in beta.
Going forward, users will have the ability to engage in chats with those outside of WhatsApp. This is all happening due to Europe’s Digital Markets Act, which requires apps and services to comply with strict policies if they want to continue to operate in the region.
As far as what users can expect, once enabled, it will be just like chatting with a friend through SMS, with support for messages, images, videos, voice messages, and more. WhatsApp also allows users to separate these types of chats from normal ones, making it clear that you’re engaged with people from outside the app.
Naturally, the communication and notifications within each of these chats will be a little different, since other messaging apps won’t have the exact same features of WhatsApp. But for the most part, the basics will be all there, enabling you to seamlessly communicate with people outside of WhatsApp in a safe and secure manner.
Now for the bit of bad news, you won’t be able to message a ton of folks outside of WhatsApp for the time being, as the beta shares that only BirdyChat is supported for now. As you can imagine, this will certainly change over time as other messaging apps will need to adapt to remain in Europe.
But the timing of when this will happen isn’t clear, since interoperability will really be up to the individual app developer. Again, it’s just in beta for now, so there’s a long road ahead in order to ensure that the experience is a smooth one. If you want to give this a shot, you can always join the beta on Android by registering through the Google Play Store. This is a feature unique to Europe, so if you’re outside the region, you won’t have access.
