Meta is preparing to design its messaging app Messenger so that users can communicate with users of other messaging apps in accordance with the European Union's new digital markets law.
Messenger will soon get a third-party chat feature, which means you'll soon be able to have conversations with people who message you from other apps that aren't available in Meta itself, even though that option won't be available. It may not be available at all.
In recent months, Meta has made it easier for third-party messaging apps to connect to Messenger, creating new ways to connect with others via Messenger.
Researcher Alessandro Paluzzi published a screenshot showing an introductory screen embedded in the messaging app code.
This process will soon facilitate communication between Messenger and non-Messenger apps.
According to the new European law on digital markets, Meta must make its platform interoperable with external applications.
The Digital Markets Act requires companies that provide major communications gateways between businesses and consumers to enable connections to external services to provide users with greater choice and control.
This means that Messenger can more easily connect to external apps, although this option is currently limited to EU users and users outside of Europe cannot benefit from the same interoperability.
In theory, Meta is preparing to eventually connect all of its messaging apps, and since WhatsApp is the most popular messaging platform in the world, the company won't see many users leaving its ecosystem.
This represents a big change and will be important to some users because it provides more ways to communicate with others through the messaging app.
Meta has not yet provided full details on when interoperability will be released and when that might happen, but EU users will soon get more messaging options.
What is important is to understand the impact of interoperability, how EU users will use the new connectivity options and whether Meta can roll out this feature to all regions.