Instagram, the Facebook-owned social media application, was testing its new standalone app for private messaging called “Direct” on Thursday. Direct will be the third app on Facebook after Messenger and WhatsApp in messaging application. The installation of the “Direct” app will automatically disappear the inbox from the Instagram for messages or chat. The camera in the Direct app will open in the similar way as it does in Snapchat.
Facebook with a similar strategy in 2014 announces the standalone “Direct” messaging app for Instagram for the convenience of its millions of users. The app seems to be fun, fast and visually appealing. As per the Vice President, Kevin Weil, it will initially start in six countries and later continue with others. The Direct app for Instagram will be accessible on iOS and Android in Italy, Turkey, Portugal, Chile and Uruguay as per the a media report.
Hemal Shah, the product manager of Instagram believes that “Direct,” the standalone app, will blur the boundaries and generate a private space for messaging one-on-one with faster deliveries and camera-first standalone application. Direct has evolved in the last four years on Instagram.
It’s not the first standalone application by Facebook on Instagram, Boomerang is another classic example of an individual feature on Instagram. It allows the users to create fun short GIF or videos for Instagram users.
Facebook has strategically come-up with this “Direct” app to counter the thunder by Snapchat. Since the new feature of stories in Instagram has launched and managed to get maximum traffic, Snapchat has experienced a huge loss in terms of utilization of its stories feature. As per the speculators, the Direct app can further damage Snapchat’s other individual features.
Facebook, from last one year, has infused the similar features like that of Snapchat in Instagram. It has introduced “Stories,” the standalone app, where you can share your daily stories or short video stories and can broadcast it to your followers which will further get disappeared within 24 hours while featuring stickers, lenses, filters and tags.
