Facebook Kills Instagram Direct App
Instagram is shutting down Instagram Direct, its SnapChat competitor, a little over a year after launching the standalone app.
“We’re rolling back the test of the standalone Direct app,” Instagram said. “We’re focused on continuing to make Instagram Direct the best place for fun conversations with your friends.”
“The Direct app is going away,” a more direct message to users of the Instagram Direct app reads. “In the coming months, we’ll no longer be supporting the Direct app. Your conversations will automatically move over to Instagram, so you don’t need to do anything.”
Facebook is trying to push its core social media service to a more chat-based infrastructure. But that would favor more personal conversations over traditional social media posts that often spread misinformation and fake news.
Instagram unveiled its Direct app in December 2017, in effect pulling the messaging functionality from Instagram out into a standalone app. The platform later got some new features, including Giphy GIFs, and even a web version for your desktop.