As Facebook is trying to consolidate its business and plans to make the backend of its various apps accessible from a single platform, it is scrapping Direct — a standalone direct-messaging app for the users of Instagram. While no exact date for shutting down the app has been revealed, the company said that the support will be pulled off “in the coming month”.
Confirmed: Instagram is killing its standalone Direct Messaging app pic.twitter.com/owt2gXtfCE
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) May 16, 2019
The company was testing the app on Android as well as iOS to rival Snapchat. However, the company says that the team will channel all developments and activity into the direct messaging feature of the main Instagram app. The users of this Direct for Instagram app are now being greeted with a message that simply says it “is going away”.
If you are among the users of this app are worried about losing your conversations, then fear not. Instagram notes in the app itself that “your conversations will automatically move over to Instagram, so you don’t need to do anything.”
In a statement, the spokesperson of the company said, “we’re rolling back the test of the standalone Direct app. We’re focused on continuing to make Instagram Direct the best place for fun conversations with your friends.” The app was first announced in December 2017 and the test rolled out to Chile, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Uruguay.
