Facebook tends to turn the switch on launching Messenger and Instagram chats systems. On Friday evening, several users across the country on both Android and iOS finds an update screen popping up in Instagram’s mobile app with the message “There’s a New Way to Message on Instagram” including a list of new features, a “new colorful look for your chats,” swipe-to-reply, more emoji reactions, and the most important one: “chat with friends that use Facebook.”
If you press update, Instagram’s standard DM icon at the top right is swapped with the Facebook’s Messenger logo. Chats are even more vibrant than ever on Instagram, with the messages from the sender alternating with blue and purple colors as you scroll. For the moment, unfortunately, Instagram chats to Facebook users are not yet possible.
But the company has made clear its aims to unify its immensely successful apps’ messaging channels to enable cross-messaging between Instagram chats, Messenger, and also WhatsApp. Facebook was said to improve the underlying network so that people who are using only one of its apps could use the various Facebook platform to connect with each other. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, has said that he wishes the apps to be encrypted end to end. Facebook would also be able to compete quite aggressively with Apple’s iMessage by combining its most common features.
Mark Zuckerberg stated previously in 2019 “We want to build the best messaging experiences we can; and people want to message to be fast, simple, reliable and private,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “We’re working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks. As you would expect, there is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work.”
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The company stated previously in 2019, “We want the best messaging experiences we can build, and people would like messaging to be reliable, private, fast and simple,” a representative for Facebook said in a statement. “We ‘re trying to make more our end-to-end messaging products encrypted and find ways to make it easier to contact friends and family across the networks. As you would expect, as we start the lengthy procedure of trying to figure out all the details of how this will work, there’s a lot of discussion and debate.
In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion and acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. The company did not respond immediately to a request for more information Friday evening.