Facebook dominates the instant messenger market with three major services. Now there are first signs that the merger of two of these services has begun.
As The Verge reports, the first signs of a merger of these services into Instagram were seen last weekend. In Instagram, both for iOS and Android, several users saw a new dialog that pointed to the new chat service in the photo app.
By enabling the update, users will have access to a colorful design, emoji responses, new gesture controls and the ability to chat with Facebook friends. Users will then be given the choice to activate the update or skip it for now.
When the new chat service is activated, the old chat logo in Instagram is replaced by the Facebook Messenger icon. According to The Verge, the design of the conversations is indeed more colorful, varying between purple and blue. However, it is not yet possible to talk to Facebook contacts.
In January 2019 Facebook had confirmed that they were working on linking their own messenger services with each other. This will make it possible in the future to reach users between different apps. It should be noted that the messages will continue to be end-to-end encrypted.
How exactly this will work in the end is not clear yet. The symbol in the new Instagram indicates that one could possibly say goodbye to Instagram’s own and much simpler system. So far, it’s impossible to say how Facebook’s plans will affect the future of the three currently independent and completely separate messenger platforms.
Facebook had acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. In 2014 the company paid $19 billion for WhatsApp.
