Instagram is Testing its DM Feature for Web

News, Tech News / By
instagram-DM
Image Source: systweak.com

Last week, Facebook was talking about unifying its all messaging apps into one, such that the businesses can easily access the Instagram direct messages. And now, reportedly, Instagram is testing its direct message feature for the web version of the app.

First spotted by the reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, she twitted a screenshot of the feature on her official Twitter account.

Currently, only the Instagram mobile app is supporting the DM (Direct Message) feature. The desktop version of the website is a minimal, pared-down version of the same, which only shows the feed and a few other basic features in it. Instagram on desktop only offers its users to scroll down the feed, search for other Instagrammers and follow them and still needs a feature to upload pictures and stories. After all the app is a photograph based social media platform. Noticeably, even the Browser Notification support was added to the web version of the app last September.

There may be a few reasons behind, why Instagram has suddenly started the testing for the DM features for the web.

One being that Instagram started the testing for its standalone messaging app, i.e. DM, in 2017 and after the launch of the DM app, Instagram may have recorded an increase in the messaging app users. So, it may have encouraged Instagram to provide its users with the facility to use the Instagram DM easily, independent of the devices they are using.

Also, Instagram does not have an app for the iPad, and the iPad users have to rely on using the browser to use Instagram. So having the DM feature for the web will also enable the iPad users to access their DMs on the iPad.

But, as Instagram started the testing of the DM feature for the desktop only after Facebook made an announcement about unifying all three messaging apps, i.e. Facebook Messenger, What’s App and Instagram, this can be the prime reason behind the same.