In a blog post detailing its steps to enhance interoperability between third party apps and WhatsApp/Messenger — which is BTW a mandatory now, thanks to DMA — Meta has announced a timeline of sorts for major updates that are expected to drop in the coming years.
Most interesting of them all? The ability to audio and video calls to WhatsApp and Messenger using compatible third party apps, though this would only come about in 2027, if it at all does. In accordance with the DMA, Meta says by 2025, it will include the option to create groups, and voice / video calling will be enabled by 2027.
“After six months of building new features, creating a new user experience, and getting feedback from potential partners and other stakeholders, we wanted to share an update on what third-party chats will look like on WhatsApp and Messenger.”, Meta said in its blog post.
Meta is bringing in a new notifications feature within both WhatsApp and Messenger, that will inform users about third-party chats. We will remind users each time a new third-party messaging app becomes available. Other convenience options include choosing which third-party apps they want to receive messages from, and how they would like to manage their inbox.
Meta says users have asked of the company, for the ability to keep a separate inbox for chats coming in via third party integrations. As a result, Meta will start offering the option to either have third-party messages delivered into a separate folder, or users can decide on a combined inbox that shows all messages in the same place. Users can always change their mind and change this setting at any point.
“Building third-party chats is technically challenging and preserving privacy and security is a shared responsibility. We have already come a long way, but there is a lot more to build”, added Meta.
