27 June 2018
Instagram Video Chat Has Arrived
By Angela Moscaritolo / pcmag
Watch out, FaceTime and Skype: Instagram now supports one-on-one and group video chats.
The Facebook-owned social media app first tipped this feature last month, and now it's officially rolling it out to Instagram's iOS and Android apps. Up to four people can join an Instagram video chat at a time. If the conversation ever gets boring, or you just want to reference something to gossip, you can minimize the video chat and browse your Instagram feed, post a story, and send direct messages.
"Video chat gives you the experience of realtime video in a private space and helps you feel close and connected to friends when you can't be together," Instagram wrote in a Tuesday blog post. "Your friends are already on Instagram, and with video chat, you can seamlessly connect across iOS and Android and without a phone number."
To start a video chat, just tap the paper airplane icon at the top right corner of your feed to open your Direct inbox, open up a message thread, and tap the new camera icon in the top right corner. When you're ready to leave the chat, press the red phone icon at the bottom.
"You can video chat with anyone you have an active Direct thread with," Instagram explained. "If you block a person, they will no longer be able to video chat you."
To adjust your video chat notifications, tap the gear icon on your profile, scroll down to Push Notifications, then scroll down again to "Video Chats." If you'd rather not receive notifications from a certain person, you can tap on their name at the top of your Direct message thread to mute them.
"This includes a 'For You' channel, which has a mix of posts tailored to your interests," Instagram wrote. "You'll also see channels on topics you might like such as Art, Sports, Beauty or Fashion – as well as a list of hashtags, giving you more ways to explore your interests."
Meanwhile, Instagram has been rapidly evolving of late. The company just last week launched IGTV for watching long-form vertical video on your phone.
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