In the past two years, Facebook inc has been re-branding Instagram and WhatsApp to increase users’ awareness that the apps are owned by Facebook, word has it that it has been planning to merge all its services, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, for quite some time.
According to The Verge, Facebook has now started offering its chat app, Messenger, within Instagram. Facebook has started showing pop-ups to users on Instagram on both Android and on iOS informing them that they will now be able to use Messenger from the photo-sharing app. Once updated, the Instagram app embeds Messenger functionality and adds more emojis and features such as swipe-to-reply and the ability to “chat with friends who use Facebook.” It also enables users to set colorful look to their chats.
While the company has started showing the update, Instagram users cannot use the functionality just yet, the report notes.
Facebook acquired Instagram for $715 million back in 2012. The photo-sharing app has more than 1 billion users and generated more than a quarter of the social-media company’s revenue last year.
