Facebook is now asking users whether they want to merge their Messenger and Instagram chats.
Over the past day, Instagram users have reported that Facebook has provided them with a notification titled “There’s a New Way to Message on Instagram” when opening the app.
This message lists several new features, including “chat with friends who use Facebook,” a “new colorful look for your chats,” “react with any emoji” and “swipe-to-reply.”
Overall, this update brings Instagram’s messaging feature more in line with Messenger. Namely, the update replaces Instagram’s regular DM icon with the Messenger logo. Further, messages will appear blue and purple as you scroll — in stark contrast to the grey and white colour scheme of standard Instagram — while allowing for Messenger-like emoji reactions and swipe-to-reply functionality.
As it stands, it’s unclear just how widely Facebook is rolling out this merger. According to The Verge, several of its editors across the U.S. received the prompt on Friday evening on both Android and iOS.
For what it’s worth, I also got the pop-up on my iPhone XR in Ontario last night. However, I accidentally dismissed it at the time, and there doesn’t yet appear to be a way to make the prompt reappear.
In any case, it’s important to note that the update doesn’t allow you to message Facebook users from within Instagram. That said, Facebook has reportedly been looking into merging Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp chats since as early as January 2019. Therefore, this new update seems like Facebook’s first major step towards fully unifying its three major apps.
Via: The Verge
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