Instagram Working On Disappearing Messages

Instagram is experimenting with a new feature and this one is related to instant messaging. Shortly, users may be able to send short-lived messages on Instagram, just like Snapchat. The Instagram messaging feature might clear the chatbox every time you exit it. This is one of the features it has been working on for a while now.

Instagram New Feature Spotted

The report comes from app researcher Jan Manchun Wong discovering the new capability hidden in the Android app's code. Further, a report by TechCrunch confirmed the feature is set to go live in the future with a statement from a Facebook spokesperson.

The tweet by Wong explains the feature and also tried to demonstrate how it would work. As a response to the tweet, Instagram said, "We're always exploring new features to improve your messaging experience. This feature is still in early development and not testing externally just yet!"

If the new feature rolls out in the way Wong discovered, we might find ourselves in a dark mode messaging window when opening an Instagram Direct conversation. As mentioned, the chat window clears out after the participants exit, making it impossible to reread what was typed there in the past conversations.

Instagram Disappearing Messages Feature

The Facebook-owned social media platform has been experimenting with disappearing messages for a while now. Nearly two years back, Instagram had rolled out a feature allowing users to control how a recipient can view a photo or a video from the Instagram Direct camera.

The feature allowed users to decide if they wanted the recipient to view it once or replay it for a while or leave a permanent thumbnail of it in the chatbox. From the looks of it, the new Instagram disappearing messages feature is available on Android and might come to iOS later.

The Instagram disappearing messages also means that the chat thread always appears empty when reopened. Precise details are yet to be confirmed. We might hear more in the coming days.