The first public phase of Facebook’s merging of Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp chats into a single, iMessage-like monolithic messaging service has kicked off now.
As The Verge noted over the weekend, some people in the United States are now starting to see a popup when they launch Instagram informing them of a new way to message.
People who accept this integration can access their Messenger chats from within Instagram’s chatting feature. This will also bring some Messenger features to Instagram, including:
- Colorful chat bubbles
- Additional emoji reactions
- Swipe to reply
- Chat with friends who use Facebook
These capabilities are available across iOS and Android devices.
Again, people who decide to merge their chats will also get to enjoy features from Messenger from within Instagram Direct. “Even if you don’t update, you can receive message requests from Facebook accounts,” according to the splash screen in Instagram.
As you probably know, the social network acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, and snapped up WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion.
Facebook early in 2019 announced a major effort to combine chats from Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp into a single cross-platform product. The service will be centered around privacy and end-to-end encryption security. Moreover, it might even feature an iMessage-like layer for SMS, according to Facebook’s boss Mark Zuckenberg.