It's Over: Meta To Discontinue Cross-App Chat Feature Between FB And Insta; What Will Change?

Social media mogul Meta announced it is linking Messenger and Instagram for an improved chatting experience for users in 2020. The aim was to allow users the best messaging space in whichever app they use after updating the experience. However, the company is now removing the ability of cross-app chatting from these two platforms.

The U-turn comes three years after the feature debuted across Meta apps. According to Instagram's Help Center, users will "no longer be able to chat with Facebook accounts on Instagram". This change will come into effect in mid-December this year. After the change, users will not be allowed to start new chats or calls with a Facebook account from the photo-sharing app.

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As for the existing cross-platform chats with a Facebook account, these will turn into a read-only format even after they are removed. Moreover, the option to initiate new messages will be restricted on these accounts. Facebook profiles will not be allowed to check a user's Activity Status or if they have viewed the message on Instagram.

After the change, users will not be allowed to start new chats or calls with a Facebook account from the photo-sharing app. (Image:Unsplash)

Existing chats that people had with a Facebook account will not move to the platform's inbox. Users can start new chats on Facebook and Messenger if they wish to continue the chats. The social media company has not issued any statement about why the feature is being discontinued.

However, 9To5Google speculates this could be due to Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires companies to allow interoperability across messaging platforms. Instant messaging platform WhatsApp is also reportedly considering the option to enable the "Third-Party Chats" feature to adhere to the rules.

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While this could be a move to better adapt to the new legislation, other speculations claim this could be an attempt to tone down the capabilities of Messenger. The app recently lost SMS/MMS capabilities, according to the report.