WhatsApp has confirmed one of the biggest changes in its history: it will be compatible with Telegram and other messengers

Whatsapp is about to change radically with a feature that has been talked about for years. Specifically, it is the interoperability that the billions of users with other courier services– Be able to read and send messages without having to leave the application.

The confirmation has arrived Dick Brouwerdirector of engineering at WhatsApp, in an interview published by the magazine Wired. “There is a real tension between providing an easy way to offer this interoperability to third parties and, at the same time, preserve the level of privacysecurity and integrity of WhatsApp,” he explained.

The main obstacles to this long-awaited feature, as is often the case, are security and interoperability. Apple, with iMessagespromises to follow the same steps as WhatsApp by adopting the RCS standard and will also connect with Android.

The March date in which this innovation will be available is no coincidence. This is when the European Union comes into action. new Digital Markets Law (DMA)new legislation requiring messaging services to take a series of measures, including enabling interoperability of their services.

Once interoperability is enabled, it will be the first time that WhatsApp will allow users of other messaging applications to write, which until now was direct competitors. A feature that promises to maintain the security standards that have previously existed in conversations, such as end-to-end encryption.

How to exchange messages between WhatsApp and Telegram

Although there are confirmations from Meta, it is not yet official which applications will be interoperable with WhatsApp, but it is expected that they may become all those that add RCS support. Among these appear iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Signal, Skype, Google Messages or himself Telegram.

Brouwer explained that it will be “a solution built on top of WhatsApp’s current client-server architecture. What that effectively means is that the approach we’re trying to take is for WhatsApp to document our client-server protocol and allow third-party clients to connect directly to our infrastructure.” “.

Meta and WhatsApp had six months to work on this rolesince last September they have been chosen by European regulators as “goalkeepers” along with Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance and Microsoft.

Initially there will be interoperability messages, images, voicemails, videos and files; while in the future it will be extended to calls and group chats.

This option to connect with other applications will remain in principle under the user’s decision. WhatsApp will allow you to activate this interoperability and those who activate it will have a menu at the top of their inbox. “Third Party Chat” where to receive messages from outside WhatsApp.