Rare W? Hoping to see Signal interoperable to solve the whole problem of people refusing to switch messengers
Sorry btw, this is the original source, if you guys want from another site let me know.
(It is considered news)
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Remember when they argued in court that this is not possible? They lied under oath.
Proof that no company cares for you. Only for your attention so they can profit off of you. Atleast companies with no business model or one only based on advertising.
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This will be a game changer in Europe where Whatsapp is more or less essential.
I wonder if Signal would consider to support this.
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Same!
Shouldnât the goal be to move people to Signal in full? We canât keep relying on other apps to keep the interoperability going.
Iâm sure this would help if Signal supports it but Iâm still going to keep encouraging people to move to Signal.
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I wonder how they determine that a user is in Europe, do they use their IP address or their phone number?
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Interoperability would help with then potentially making them switch.
But thereâs also people who will refuse change and trust me I got many.
With how many rely on WhatsApp and here in Cyprus Viber you would be amazed. Interoperability helps so that in the event they insist on refusing to switch, at least you get to keep using signal and they get to keep using WhatsApp.
I kept advertising my profile for signal.
Only until Chat Control did I get a few but only 2 out of the tens (idk how much I have exactly in family, around 50 more or less) so yeah.
Yeah, good luck with that in the EU.
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Maybe both? A really good question nonetheless
I know a lot of people whose WhatsApp number is not the country they live in. I have a relative from New Zealand who moved to Switzerland. Heâs been in Switzerland for years, and his WhatsApp number is still his New Zealand number.
Such defeatist attitude doesnât help anyone
I donât think you understand. Are you even living in the EU?
The network effect is a massive thing.
You do airbnb, Whatsapp.
You take an appointment with an health specialist, Whatsapp.
You need support from your energy provider, Whatsapp.
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If not for this I also stand that Interoperability actually helps with making someone switch to something like signal rather than not having interoperability and trying to convince them
If I was the average naive person and you told me âHey please install signal, I would appreciate it, You can also keep talking to your WhatsApp users in case youâre worriedâ As soon as the last sentence is said I am not pleading ignorance nor second questioning it, Iâm in.
As is with now where the option doesnât exist, that average naive mindset of me would go âEugh, Another messenger app, really now? No dude, sorryâ
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Yes, the point here is a âstandardâ protocol that everybody can use rather than the client.
Like email, mastodon, the web and so on.
Only when you have the fair access to the protocol, the same service with the same reach, you can then argue on the best client otherwise itâs just wishful thinking for people to switch from one messenger to another.
@GorujoCY I remember Element being disappointed with WhatsApp because they require that users by third party platforms are physically in the EU. Also they would need to share the users IP address
https://matrix.org/blog/2024/09/whatsapp-dma/
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This is opt-in, WA users must enable this option. So it wonât make a big difference
I donât know if you will have to give your phone number to Meta, but if that is the case, then itâs even worse.
I recently moved back to Asia so I did not know how bad the dependence and use of WhatsApp was. So, I am starting to understand. And I am hating this system in place where WhatsApp is essentially mandatory.
Perhaps I didnât realize the extent of this in the EU. I have never been there.
and so? The users have to choose, would they rather install an app (eg. Signal) or enable a simple toggle. Either way itâs a win-win
I checked the two apps and they seem very small. One is directed at business users, the other was created in 2025 and is still waitlist-only.
Donât get me wrong, this a positive improvement. But the DMA was supposed to make messengers interoperability the norm, not the exception.
With Meta making no concessions to Element, this is likely to have limited reach. The issue is that Meta can now claim they effectively meet this DMA requirements as they do have working interoperability.
other apps (yes this includes signal) can open up to support it, not just these 2, itâs just meta acknowledged these 2 as a beginning