The digital age of smartphones and apps gave birth to plenty of alternatives for communication methods. We are not really talking about the evolution of 3G to 4G to the current 5G, or whatever that it will evolve into the future. We are talking about going back to messenger apps that sort of lost their appeal when mobile phones became a thing in the Windows XP era. Thanks to the large uptake of an app ecosystem like Apple’s App Store, WhatsApp became a big phenomenon, even bigger than the BlackBerry Messenger. Even with BlackBerry bringing their Messenger app, the rise of apps like Signal, and even Telegram, WhatsApp remains the most popular alternative messenger app you use on your smartphone. There is a good reason for that.
WhatApp, while starting out as a rather simple messenger app for the masses and bridging the gap between Apple iOS and Google Android users, has progressed to become something beyond a simple messenger. The look has not changed all that much to be fair, but the number of features that is packed into the app makes it one of the most complete messenger apps you have out there. One of biggest or most significant updates, at least in our opinions, is the introduction of Communities into the platform. They are not stopping there though.
According to the most reliable WhatsApp leak sources, WA Beta Info, WhatsApp is now working on bringing third-party messaging into the platform. This will be in accordance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations that obligate tech companies to offer a more global communication tool that allows users from different platforms to communicate with each other. That also means that you might be able to start texting your friend on Telegram or WeChat without having to download those apps or have any account on the apps and vice versa.
While it has appeared as a Beta feature on WhatsApp Beta version 2.23.19.8 for Android, it does not mean that we will see the feature coming as a fully developed feature anytime soon. There are plenty of things to work on when it comes to third-party app messaging abilities. For one, end-to-end encryption between different apps works rather differently from one another. While a previous interview tells us that the encryption protocol between Signal and WhatsApp is rather similar, there are no guarantees that both apps can communicate with each other without hiccups. There is also a problem of the different programming languages and architecture on the platforms for seamless transition and communication between each of the programs. You also want to keep in mind that not all the features that come out in the Beta version of WhatsApp will be released as a full feature for WhatsApp in the future.
This Beta feature is a little different though. It is developed in compliance with a sanctioned regulation. That also means that we will most likely see the feature being baked into WhatsApp and other messenger apps like Telegram and even Signal. It is just a matter of time.
