This week, Meta has been on a roll, releasing a slew of new features for its messaging platforms. Whats App’s voice messaging technology received some much-needed upgrades earlier this week. The Messenger app had also added support for Slack-like Shortcuts the day before. Instagram has released a slew of new features for its direct messaging, or DMs, section today.
Instagram is adopting a Messenger gimmick by introducing support for a shortcut that allows you to send quiet messages. Simply write @silent before a message to have it delivered without a notification being sent to the recipient’s phone. This function is ideal for sharing strange late-night epiphany moments without disturbing the other person.
Instagram is also borrowing the group voting feature from Messenger. Thanks to the upgrade, users can now create a poll in their Instagram group chat. Another meaningful addition is the integration of music streaming services in Instagram DMs, which lets users share a 30-second preview of a song with their friends. At the moment, it works for Apple Music and Amazon Music, but Spotify will also be added to the mix soon.
The platform is also paying some attention to the multitasking aspect. Users can now reply to reply to a message without having to open the DMs section. The idea is to let users browse their feed with minimal interruptions. A new lo-fi theme with a beautiful color gradient design is also arriving to make the chat backgrounds look good.
Remember the share sheet system in Android that has a row of contacts at the top to quickly share content via platforms like Whats App? Meta is pulling off something similar on Instagram. You can now tap and hold the share button below a post or Reel to directly share it with a select few close friends whose profile icons appear in a share bubble.
And just like Messenger once again, the DM section on Instagram will now show a row of friends who are online and available for gossip. Instagram is rolling out the aforementioned features in a phased manner and some of them are region-locked, too. European customers won’t have access to any of these features as the company has yet to enable its upgraded messaging experience in the region, but plans to do so at some unspecified point in the future are in the works.