Facebook last year rolled out one-to-one, cross-platform chats for Instagram and Facebook Messenger, meaning Messenger users could contact Instagram users without downloading a separate app and vice versa. Today, it extended that functionality to group chats.
According to Sateesh Kumar Srinivasan, Facebook Director of Product Management for Messenger, "over 70% of eligible people on Instagram have updated to the new Messenger experience to enjoy new features like cross-app communication" in the last year.
The experience will be familiar for anyone who’s already using Messenger. “Within these cross-app group chats, you can continue to customize your chat experience with chat themes and custom reactions,” Srinivasan explains.
Facebook has also released new Messenger and Instagram customizations, including Cottagecore and J Balvin, which offer special reaction emoji. An Astrology art suite theme also comes with some AR effects and an upcoming sticker pack.
Facebook is also bringing its polling feature to cross-platform direct messages and group chats. To keep chats lively, Group Typing Indicators will show when someone in the chat is typing a response to the group.
Permissions do not change with these new features. "You decide who reaches your Chats List, who goes to your Message Request folder, and who can’t message or call you," Srinivasan says.
The extra integration between the messaging services will likely be a boon for most users, though Facebook skeptics may see it as a move by the social media giant to more tightly integrate its products in a bid to avoid efforts to break it up.
To try it out, make sure you have the most up-to-date version of both apps.