Instagram Enhances Messaging Experience with New Editing, Pinning, and Theme Options

Instagram is making it easier to connect and manage your conversations with friends and family through new features in its Direct Messages (DMs).

Say goodbye to the frustration of sending a message with a typo or realizing you forgot to add something important. With the edit message feature, you now have a 15-minute window to make changes to your sent messages. Simply press and hold on the message you want to edit, and then select "Edit" from the menu. The edited message will be indicated to the recipient, letting them know the content has been changed.

No more scrolling endlessly to find your most frequent conversations! The pin chat feature allows you to prioritize up to three chats, be it group chats or individual conversations, by pinning them to the top of your DM inbox. This way, you can easily access your most important chats without having to search through your entire list. To pin a chat, simply swipe left on the chat or tap and hold on it, and then select "Pin." You can unpin a chat at any time by following the same steps.

For users who value privacy, Instagram is now offering more control over read receipts. You can choose to turn off read receipts entirely, keep them on for all conversations, or enable them only for specific chats. To adjust your read receipts settings, head to your account settings, tap "Messages and story replies," and then toggle the read receipts option on or off as desired.

Quickly add personality to your conversations by saving your favorite stickers for easy access. Just press and hold on a sticker you like to save it for future use. Additionally, Instagram is enhancing the reply function, allowing you to respond to messages with various media formats, including stickers, GIFs, videos, photos, and even voice messages. Simply press and hold on the message you want to reply to, and then select "Reply" to choose your preferred response format.

Spruce up your chats and set a unique tone for each conversation with the new chat themes feature. Explore a variety of themes, from classic options like "Love" (soon to be animated) to playful themes like "Lollipop." You can even find themes inspired by popular franchises like "Avatar: The Last Airbender." To change the theme for a specific chat, tap the chat name, go to "Themes," and select your desired theme.

These new features demonstrate Meta's ongoing commitment to making Instagram DMs a more convenient, personalized, and enjoyable way for users to connect with each other. With the ability to edit messages, pin important chats, control read receipts, and personalize the chat experience, Instagram DMs are becoming a more robust and user-friendly platform for communication.