Instagram update brings better messaging and music sharing features

Instagram is stepping up its game as a social networking app with a host of messaging features. You get to reply to Direct Messages while you are browsing the feed, and when you find something interesting, it can be shared with close friends quickly. If you don’t want to disturb the other person with your messages, there’s an option to deliver them quietly too. On the contrary, when you want to suggest to the other person a new piece of music, you can send a 30-second preview of it from Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music. Speaking of music, you can personalize the chats with your dear ones using new LoFi wallpapers. Overall, the new update is likely to make DMs faster and more fun. 

Meta says this announcement is part of their “ongoing work to improve how you connect and share with your closest friends”.

New Instagram Messaging Features

• Reply while you browse: You can now reply to incoming DMs without going to your inbox. The newly received DMs will appear as a banner on top. You can interact with it then and there to reply.
• Quickly send to friends: You just have to tap and hold the share button to reshare posts to your closest Instagram friends.
• See who’s online: Like Facebook Messenger, Instagram now shows contacts that may be available for chat at the top of your inbox.
• Play, pause, and re-play: You will be able to directly send a 30-second preview of songs from Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify soon. The receiver will be able to listen to it from the chat window itself.
• Send messages quietly: If you don’t want to disturb someone while they are sleeping or are busy, then drop the messages with a “@silent” at the beginning of your message. They won’t be pestered by your DM notifications.
• Keep it on the lo-fi: Customize the chat backgrounds with the new lo-fi themes.
• Create a poll with your squad: You can create a poll in the group chat and take decision based on the result.

Meta is blurring the distinction between the various social media platforms. Well, not just its apps like Instagram, Messenger, Whatsapp, etc, but is also known to take inspiration from competitors like TikTok, Snapchat, Telegram, etc. With a steady stream of updates like this, it may not only improve the experience for its users but also build a moat around its app ecosystem.

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