Meta to remove cross-app chatting between Messenger and Instagram

Meta has just made a surprising announcement concerning the cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram. It looks like starting mid-December, we’ll no longer be able to chat with Facebook accounts on Instagram.

Also, Facebook accounts will no longer be able to view the Activity Status of an Instagram user or whether a message has been seen them. It goes even further, as Meta announced that any existing chats with Facebook accounts will not move to the inbox on Facebook or Messenger.

According to Meta, all existing chats on Instagram that someone had with Facebook accounts will become read-only, even if these accounts are removed from the chat. As a result, those with Instagram accounts will no longer be able to send new messages in these chats.

Initially revealed back in 2019, the ability to chat between Messenger and Instagram users was made available to everyone a year later. Meta hasn’t said anything about the reason behind its decision to remove this feature, but it might have something to do with the regulatory guidelines in the EU.

No exact date was provided for the removal of the cross-app chatting feature, but it’s sad to see this go. It’s unlikely that Meta will replace the feature with an improved iteration, but one can only hope.