Opening up WhatsApp like this achieves nothing
The EU wants users to be able to communicate with people on WhatsApp from other messaging apps. Sounds like a good idea. But implementation is tricky – and in its current form, useless.
WhatsApp is by far the most widely used messaging app. According to the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency), 93 per cent of Germans use WhatsApp, with Facebook Messenger in second place. Because the usefulness of a messaging app depends on how many people you can reach with it, it’s difficult for competitors to break WhatsApp’s near-monopoly.
The EU wants to change that. Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), large platform operators are required to open up their services to one another. Being a core platform, WhatsApp was required to provide an interface for other messaging apps.
No major app has signed up
So far, so good. The catch? The only two messaging apps actually using the interface are the totally obscure BirdyChat and Haiket. Signal and Threema have explicitly ruled out any collaboration, citing privacy concerns – a point of differentiation from WhatsApp. There’s no indication that the WhatsApp interface will be integrated into iMessage or Google Messages either. Nobody is being forced to do so; the incentives appear too low. And because only WhatsApp qualifies as a core platform, the other messaging apps aren’t required to offer interfaces of their own.
Only one obscure app, not available in Switzerland
I wanted to try the new feature anyway, so I installed BirdyChat. I tried to download Haiket too, but all I could do was put myself on a waiting list. As it turns out, I couldn’t test the feature in BirdyChat either. The legal obligation only applies to the European Economic Area – and Switzerland is not part of the EEA – so the feature isn’t available in Switzerland. Meta really seems to be doing the bare minimum.
WhatsApp users have to comb through the settings first
But even if the feature were available, it would be largely useless: WhatsApp has disabled third-party chats by default. This means that every WhatsApp user I want to message via BirdyChat first has to manually enable third-party apps in general, and then BirdyChat specifically.
The whole point of an interface like this is being able to message WhatsApp users without having WhatsApp yourself. And without asking them to switch to another app or giving them complicated instructions for configuring their settings. If that were the case, I could delete WhatsApp from my phone, even if I regularly communicate with WhatsApp users. But it isn’t, so I can’t.
With that, the feature is absolutely useless.
What’s the solution?
Including BirdyChat, I now have five messaging apps on my phone. That can’t be the solution. But then what is?
What’s probably needed is a binding standard – a protocol that must be supported by all apps. We’re closer to that than many people think: WhatsApp and Signal already use the same messaging protocol today. RCS, the successor to SMS, would also be an option – if it were finally supported by all mobile providers.
But even that’s not enough. Signal and Threema fear that cross-platform exchange would lead to de-anonymisation, data harvesting and increased spam (linked article in German). They simply don’t want interoperability. Of course, WhatsApp has no interest in it either. It's difficult to find a political solution when the people in charge of implementing it are reluctant to do so.
To be fair, the solution appears to be difficult not just from a political but also from a technical standpoint. Perhaps interoperability while simultaneously guaranteeing data privacy simply isn’t possible. Even so, I hope there will be further regulatory measures aimed at standardising communication. Simply sticking with SMS is not a solution. WhatsApp and RCS are far more secure and capable than the completely outdated and unencrypted SMS. In my view, what’s needed is a standard that provides modern baseline functionality. Anyone wanting particularly high data security or special additional features could still turn to proprietary solutions.
My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
This is a subjective opinion of the editorial team. It doesn't necessarily reflect the position of the company.
Show all
