Skip to main content

Instagram enhances messaging experience with new features

Meta has been on a roll this week, raining down a volley of new features on its messaging platforms. Earlier this week, WhatsApp got some much-needed improvements to the voice messages system. And a day before that, the Messenger app introduced support for Slack-like Shortcuts. Today, Instagram has unloaded a host of neat tricks for its direct messages, or DMs, section.

Borrowing a trick from Messenger, Instagram is adding support for a shortcut that lets you send silent messages. Just type @silent before a message, and it will be delivered without pushing a notification on the recipient’s phone. This feature is perfect for sharing weird late-night eureka moments without waking up the other person.

Recommended Videos

Instagram is also borrowing the group voting feature from Messenger. Thanks to the upgrade, users can now create a poll in their Instagram group chat. Another meaningful addition is the integration of music streaming services in Instagram DMs, which lets users share a 30-second preview of a song with their friends. At the moment, it works for Apple Music and Amazon Music, but Spotify will also be added to the mix soon.

A graphic featuring three smartphone displays shows the quick send feature on Instagram.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The platform is also paying some attention to the multitasking aspect. Users can now reply to reply to a message without having to open the DMs section. The idea is to let users browse their feed with minimal interruptions. A new lo-fi theme with a beautiful color gradient design is also arriving to make the chat backgrounds look good.

Remember the share sheet system in Android that has a row of contacts at the top to quickly share content via platforms like WhatsApp? Meta is pulling off something similar on Instagram. You can now tap and hold the share button below a post or Reel to directly share it with a select few close friends whose profile icons appear in a share bubble.

And just like Messenger once again, the DM section on Instagram will now show a row of friends who are online and available for gossip. Instagram is rolling out the aforementioned features in a phased manner and some of them are region-locked, too. European customers won’t have access to any of these features as the company has yet to enable its upgraded messaging experience in the region, but plans to do so at some unspecified point in the future are in the works.

A graphic featuring three smartphone displays shows the song preview feature on Instagram.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

But there’s a caveat. Users who can’t or won’t enable the updated messaging experience won’t be able to access some of the new features mentioned above. The company has told TechCrunch that only song sharing, quick send, and the fresh lo-fi theme will be available to those stuck on the legacy DM system.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech and science journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started…
Instagram is ramping up AI-powered age detection on teen users
The Foto and Instagram app on an Android phone.

The days of teenagers lying about their age on Instagram are over. Meta has announced that they're using AI-powered age detection technology to enroll teens suspected of misrepresenting their age to a restricted Teen Account.

Instagram's parent company announced the AI-driven crackdown on teen Instagram users in a blog post on Monday, saying that it's leveraging its AI, which it has been using to detect the age ranges of many of its users for some time, to detect accounts it suspects belong to teenagers who lied about their age to bypass safeguards, even if they have an adult birthday listed. Instagram said it is taking steps to ensure the AI is accurate and will correctly place teen users into Teen Accounts, but will give users an option to change their settings if their account has been placed into a Teen Account by mistake.

Read more
Instagram takes a page from Spotify’s book to launch Blend for Reels
Instagram on the Samsung Galaxy A54.

Watching a variety of Instagram Reels has never been easier than in a special group chat with friends. Instagram has launched Blend, a new feature that allows you to create custom Reels feeds for you and anyone you invite into a DM group.

The Meta-owned platform announced the rollout of Instagram Blend on Thursday (per TechCrunch), which is inspired by a Spotify playlist of the same name called Spotify Blend that mixes your music tastes with those of the person you invite into that playlist (assuming they have Spotify at all), and the songs refresh daily. With Instagram Blend, you can create a Reels feed in a one-on-one DM with another person or in a group chat with friends or family.

Read more
Samsung Galaxy S25 owners treated to unexpected new features in latest update
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The April 2025 security update for the Samsung Galaxy S25 series has many more goodies than initially expected. SamMobile notes that the monthly update isn’t just about fixing vulnerabilities and security holes. It’s also about bringing back a feature and improving others.

In total, the new update for the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra provides a security patch and includes improvements to camera performance, charging, and general software stability.

Read more