Instagram is beginning to revamp its direct message section with new features to improve communication between people, as Adam Mosseri, the company’s CEO, promised a few months ago. Users, in particular, will soon be able to reply to specific messages, react to conversations with emojis, create animated chats, add backgrounds, or even set an ephemeral mode to write privately so that messages disappear. All this news will be arriving in stages starting next week. But if you don’t want to wait to have them in your account, you can follow these simple steps.

First of all, you must bear in mind that to activate the new Instagram direct messages you need the collaboration of a friend or family member since it is necessary to make a video call and access an option within it that will force the activation of the new features for the chats. If you prefer, you can also use a secondary account from another device. On the other hand, you must also have the Instagram app updated to the latest version. You can check if there is a new version as follows.

On iOS: access the App Store, click on your account icon, and go to the ‘Updates’ section. Then check if the app is available to update and install the new version if it is.
On Android: go to the Google Play Store, click on your profile icon and click on ‘Manage apps and device’. Then, click on “Update available” and check if the Instagram app is on the list.

Once you’ve updated the Instagram app to the latest version, find a friend or family member to make a video call with. Then, go to the direct messages section of Instagram, click on the user’s chat and click on the camera icon that appears at the top of the screen. Wait for the recipient to answer the video call.

Once inside, you must click on the ‘Media content’ section that appears at the bottom and select the ‘TV shows and movies’ tab. This is the TV-shaped icon that is displayed on the screen. Finally, tap where it says ‘Update messaging function’ and confirm the action if necessary.

Now, close Instagram from your mobile and reopen the app. Instagram’s direct message icon should change to Messenger’s, and features should be updated. If this is not the case, you may have to wait a few hours for the platform to implement the feature on your profile.