Facebook has been planning to merge WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger chats into a single app for some time, but now the company has taken the first actions to make this happen. During this Friday night, Instagram was updated to offer an option that merges its chat feature with Facebook Messenger.
Instagram users are now being notified to join their accounts with Facebook Messenger, which brings chats and features from Messenger to Instagram. “There’s a new way to message on Instagram,” says the message showing the icons of the two Facebook apps.
In addition to combining the chats of both services, the update also adds some of the options previously available on Facebook Messenger, including colorful chats, reactions with any emoji, and swiping to reply individual messages.
Instagram says that merging with Facebook Messenger is optional for now and users can decline it. However, as noted by The Verge, Instagram doesn’t yet offer Messenger conversations even if you accept the update to your account which is likely to be enabled in the next few days.
If everything goes right, the next step is to combine the two services with WhatsApp. Last year, a report revealed that WhatsApp employees are worried about this integration, as the popular messaging app has strong encryption that could be affected by combining it with other apps.
What do you think of that decision? Would you rather have all the Facebook apps working as a single service or that they remain separate? Let us know in the comments below.