WhatsApp is planning to launch a new ‘third party chats’ feature in Europe which would allow users to send messages to their friends on different messaging platforms. The feature was spotted by WABetaInfo in WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.25.33.8 and is reportedly an attempt to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The Meta owned personal messaging app has been rumoured to be working on the feature for quite some time but it is finally said to be making significant progress to meet the interoperability requirements set by the EU. Notably, the Digital Markets Act marks big companies like Meta as ‘gatekeepers’ owing to their dominant position in the market and forces them to open up their services to third parties to foster fair competition.

As per WABetaInfo, some WhatsApp users are now getting the beta update with interoperability features. Eligible users are able to communicate with people on other messaging platforms by turning on the feature via Settings > Account > Third party chats on WhatsApp.

Notably, third party chats on WhatsApp will reportedly support many essential features like sending messages, photos, videos, voice messages and documents, similar to how users can currently communicate with their contacts on the app.

Users will be able to sort their incoming messages either via a combined inbox or through a separate one for third party messages. They will also be able to customise the push notifications, media upload quality and in-app alerts for messages from other apps.

The only app supported by WhatsApp’s interoperability feature is BirdyChat. Reportedly, WhatsApp will not directly select which apps to integrate in the interoperability settings and instead third party developers would have to work on the integration and submit a request to be included.

Reportedly, only the apps which meet WhatsApp’s strict security and encryption requirements will be included to ensure that users’ conversations remain protected.

The report notes that it is expected that WhatsApp could receive more integration requests in the future including from apps like ChatGPT. Notably, the AI platform had already rolled out a Group Chats feature to allow multiple users to have a conversation with its AI, similar to the feature already offered by WhatsApp.

However, many important WhatsApp features like status updates, stickers and disappearing messages may not be supported with the interoperability messages feature. Moreover, users who have been previously blocked on WhatsApp may be able to contact the recipient via other third party apps.