Instagram DMs Upgrade: Music Sharing, Message Scheduling & More

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Instagram now allows users to share 30-second audio clips from its music library directly in DMs, making it easier to share songs with friends.
• The new message scheduling feature enables users to schedule messages up to 29 days in advance, offering more control over when messages are sent.
• A translation tool has been introduced, allowing users to translate messages in 99 languages by simply pressing and selecting the "translate" option.
• Users can now pin up to three messages in a chat to keep important information or favorite content easily accessible.

Instagram has launched a set of new features for its direct messages (DMs), making its messaging platform more competitive with other widely used applications such as Apple's iMessage. The improvements are designed to improve user experience by adding tools for music-sharing, scheduling of messages, translation, and so on.

Music-sharing feature

Among the most anticipated additions is the music-sharing feature, through which users can share 30-second audio clips of songs from Instagram's music database in their DMs. The feature has been expected to appeal particularly to younger users who are used to discovering new music through social apps like TikTok and Instagram. In making use of the feature, users are able to press the sticker button on the screen of the chat composer, select "Music," and then enter a search term and share a song of preference.

Message scheduling

Instagram also introduced a feature of message scheduling, with which messages can be scheduled for sending up to 29 days in advance. It is similar to Apple's "Send Later" option on iMessage and is accessed by pressing the "send" button down and selecting the date and time to send the message.

Translation tool

The new translation feature enables users to translate messages received or sent in a foreign language, with support for 99 languages at launch. The feature can be used by hard-pressing on the message to be translated and choosing the "translate" option.

Pinning messages

The users can now pin a maximum of three messages, photos, memes, or reels to the top of their chat by pressing and tapping on the message and then tapping "Pin." This is helpful to keep vital information easily accessible or for entertainment. To unpinned a message, the users just need to tap on the pinned message and choose "Unpin”.

QR Code Invites

One of the new additions is that friends can be invited to a group chat via sending them a QR code. The user can create a QR code from an invite link in a chat and send it live, share it from the share sheet, or save it as a picture for later sharing.

These new features are first available to both iOS and Android users, with web access to follow later.