Instagram now allows you to chat with up to three friends

It's a very busy time for Instagram all the time. Right after the launch of IGTV, it is now introducing video chat in Instagram Direct which allows you to chinwag with one or more friends at a time.

"Video chat gives you real-time video experience in a private space and helps you feel close and connected to your friends when you can not be together," the Facebook company said Tuesday.

This feature allows you to communicate with all your Instagram friends, whether they use an iOS or Android device, and unlike some IM and IM services, you do not need one. phone number to start. As long as you have an active live thread with them, you're ready to go.

To start a video chat, drag it into your direct inbox and open a thread. See the camera icon in the upper right corner? Touch to make a call.

During a conversation, you can reduce the video and do other things on the Instagram application, such as sending messages and photos in Direct, checking your feed, publishing news, and getting started. a story, etc.

The new feature allows you to chat with up to four friends at a time, each participant receiving his own space on the screen so you can all see you.

"If there is an active video chat in a group thread, the camera icon will turn blue," says Instagram. "Just tap the camera for fun."

If you want to leave an active chat with friends or end the call if it is with another person, tap the red phone icon at the bottom of the screen.

You do not want to receive a request for discussion from someone? Just block them to prevent calls. It is also possible to disable an individual if you prefer not to receive notifications from him. To confirm the video chat notification settings, tap the gear icon in your profile. You'll find the new video chat control in push notifications.

Explorer and camera effects

Instagram has also paid some attention to the Explore tab, retaining its style, but adding new thematic channels at the top of the page to help you bring up the content that interests you. You can move quickly between different topics by scanning the entire grid.

Finally, the one billion Instagram users can also have fun with new camera effects designed by Ariana Grande, BuzzFeed, Liza Koshy, Baby Ariel and the NBA.

The introduction of video chat brings Instagram to stand out from its roots as a photo-sharing app, but with people accustomed to having social media applications filled with features, the team behind she calculates that the latter will be a success. It should definitely achieve its main goal of keeping users in the app longer, eliminating the need to jump to a competitor to make a call. Launch with a group The video option is also important because Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat already offer such a feature. Apple's FaceTime will start offering group video chats with iOS 12 when it launches in the fall.