What you need to know
- Today, Meta announced a new update for Instagram that's rolling out today, which brings an edit button to DMs for texts up to 15 minutes old.
- Users will also find new chat themes, an option to pin chats to the top of their DM page, and more.
- This "fun" update for Instagram's DMs comes two months after the platform rolled out new ways to help protect teens from unwanted contact.
Instagram is rolling out an update today that should help improve the user experience regarding DMs and stickers, alongside more customization.
According to Meta, kicking off the updates today is the ability for users to edit their DMs after sending. The company states you'll soon be able to edit your sent messages "up to 15 minutes" after. This can be done by long-pressing the desired text and tapping the new "Edit" option in the small pop-up menu.
Next, Instagram is picking up a chat pinning feature similar to what you'd find in Google Messages. Meta states users can pin their favorite chat to the top of their DM page by swiping left on it or long-pressing it. From there, Instagram has added a new "Pin" option alongside its pre-existing "mute" and "delete" buttons.
The social media platform allows users to pin up to three one-on-one chats or group chats. Not only will pinned chats be at the top of your view but they're also marked with a small tack icon.
Instagram focuses on customization, as well, as this update includes new chat themes. Today, users should begin noticing new options to swap themes to the Love background, Lollipop, or Avatar: The Last Airbender. The company states users can expect the Love theme to be animated, though it did not say when this would take place.
To swap the theme, head into a DM > tap its name at the top > Themes.
Instagram is also rolling out an option that lets users control read receipts across every individual DM or group chat. The post states users can hop into Settings > Messages and story replies > Show read receipts to toggle it on or off.
Updates to expressing yourself arrive as Instagram brings the option to save your favorite stickers in DMs for quick rediscovery. Additionally, users will find more ways to reply to messages. The company states that long-pressing a text message to reply will now show options to respond with a photo, sticker, GIF, video, or voice message.
The update should begin rolling out today. We've spotted the new themes in Instagram's DMs; however, the edit function has not yet appeared, meaning we're likely waiting on a patch to download.
Moreover, the company has teased us that there are "more features coming soon."
Instagram finally gaining an edit button for sent messages arrives a few months after Facebook's Messenger received it. Both services see the same 15-minute timeframe available for sent messages before you can no longer edit them. Meta stated that it keeps a copy of the original message for report purposes. It's unclear if it does the same with Instagram's version.
Additionally, while Instagram is now focusing on the "fun" side of DMs, January highlighted its efforts in safety. Two months ago, the platform rolled out an update that took steps to protect teenagers from unwanted messages. Instagram brought about "Stricter Messaging" settings for those under 16 (or 18) that should help block unwanted texts from people they don't know.
