Do you consider talking to someone new while dating cheating

So the story is, roughly 6 months ago my relationship of 2 years ended, and 3 weeks later she had a new BF. So for some backstory i was friends with her for 1 year before we dated and when romantic interest was established we “talked” for 2 months before we made it official. In hindsight it was clear she was interested with someone else bc she kept her phone away from me but i didn’t think twice bc i trusted her completely but love blinds. So my friend argued that it wasn’t considered cheating Bc it wasn’t physical. But imo that’s being unfaithful in the relationship and i consider going somewhere else for emotional validation cheating. Just interested to hear y’all’s thoughts

Edit: we broke up for another reason, she didn’t want me to get my masters and doctorate, but all this came out AFTER the split