WhatsApp is getting ready to let European users talk to people on other messaging apps without leaving the app. To comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Meta is preparing to roll out WhatsApp third-party chat support across the European Region, starting with two partners: BirdyChat and Haiket. The rollout will happen over the coming months and will initially be limited to iOS and Android phones, not desktop, web, or tablet apps.
At its core, this change is about opening up a platform that has long been closed. The DMA requires large messaging services to offer interoperability so that users are not locked into a single ecosystem. Meta says it has spent several years working with European messaging services and regulators to build a system that lets WhatsApp talk to third-party apps while still preserving end-to-end encryption and basic privacy protections for users.
For everyday users, WhatsApp third-party chat support will show up as an opt-in toggle in the app’s Settings for accounts registered to phone numbers in DMA-covered countries. Once enabled, you will be able to send and receive messages, photos, videos, voice notes, and files with people who are using compatible third-party apps instead of WhatsApp. Users in Europe will see an in-app notification explaining how to opt in, and they will be able to turn the feature off again at any time if they change their mind.
Meta has already previewed how this integration will look. Third-party chats will live in a dedicated section inside WhatsApp, and users will have the choice to keep those conversations in a separate folder or merge them into the main inbox. That flexibility matters if you only want to test the feature or keep experimental apps away from your primary conversations. For now, interoperability is focused on mobile apps, and Meta has not announced any support for desktop or web clients.
BirdyChat and Haiket will be the first services to plug into WhatsApp third-party chat support after months of small-scale testing across Europe. They are not big consumer names, which is exactly the point of the DMA. The law is designed to level the playing field so that smaller services can reach WhatsApp’s huge audience without forcing people to juggle multiple apps or abandon their existing phone number. Group chats with third-party users are also planned, but that feature will arrive later, once Meta’s partners are ready to support it.
Security is the main constraint shaping the entire system. Any app that wants to integrate with WhatsApp must match its level of end-to-end encryption so that messages remain unreadable in transit, both to Meta and to the third-party provider. Meta has also made it clear that while message content stays encrypted, each external app can still have its own data and privacy policies. That means users will need to pay attention to how those services handle metadata such as who they talk to and when. Some WhatsApp features, such as stickers or advanced chat tools, may not work in third-party conversations at launch as the ecosystem evolves.
