Exciting news! Can't wait for iMessage to open up too. Any idea if this (or other future messengers) will work outside of Europe too or does WhatsApp use some kind of geofencing, like Apple, to prevent non-EU citizens from enjoying the same rights too?
BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
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Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#12> With the new WhatsApp interface mandated by the DMA, any BirdyChat user in the EEA will be able to start a chat with any WhatsApp user in the region simply by knowing their phone number. Unfortunately, as it's been implemented as opt-in on WhatsApp's side, this isn't really true. Honestly that decision alone means it's kinda dead in the water.
Could you clarify - What has been implemented as opt-in by WhatsApp to act as a hurdle?
Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#13Exciting news! Can't wait for iMessage to open up too. Any idea if this (or other future messengers) will work outside of Europe too or does WhatsApp use some kind of geofencing, like Apple, to prevent non-EU citizens from enjoying the same rights too?
iMessage will not be opening up. They lobbied hard in the EU and got an exemption for not being popular enough there I guess.
Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you clarify - What has been implemented as opt-in by WhatsApp to act as a hurdle?
Receiving message requests from third-party users. So you have to get the person you know to flip a toggle before they get the message.
Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
iMessage will not be opening up. They lobbied hard in the EU and got an exemption for not being popular enough there I guess.
Did they lobby for an exemption, or is that just how the law is written?
Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#16I must protest that this kind of announcement belies the stupidity of proprietary chat protocols. Remember when IRC was king, and basically, anyone could write an IRC client? Anyone could write a MUD client, or even a Telnet client. Those are open protocols. When Pidgin came out, it was like a breath of fresh air for me. In the early 90s I had multiple IM accounts (starting with ICQ!) and unifying them, especially un…
Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Receiving message requests from third-party users. So you have to get the person you know to flip a toggle before they get the message.
Is this a per-contact setting or a "universal" one?
Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#18Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did they lobby for an exemption, or is that just how the law is written?
The DMA is enforced by bureaucracy. The commission proposes that certain platforms are big enough to be regulated, and then there's a comment period/negotiation. The list of platforms currently being regulated is publicly available.
Re: BirdyChat becomes first European chat app that is interoperable with WhatsApp
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did they lobby for an exemption, or is that just how the law is written?
The DMA is enforced by bureaucracy. The commission proposes that certain platforms are big enough to be regulated, and then there's a comment period/negotiation. The list of platforms currently being regulated is publicly available.