Instagram May Soon Add ‘Disappearing Mode’ for Direct Messages

INTRO: Instagram is currently working on a Snapchat-style disappearing mode for direct messages. The feature that was spotted on a couple of months back by the app reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong and now, Wong has tweeted that an improved user interface of the feature.

Instagram Disappearing Mode

As you can see, in the image mentioned below, the messages sent while in Disappearing mode go away once the user exits the chat, it is quite similar to Snapchat’s ephemeral messages implementation. So, there is an animation when the user enters the mode as well.

In the latest feature of the disappearing mode of Instagram, the text explaining the feature reads “Messages will disappear after they have been seen”, which is how the feature works on Snapchat as well.

Private Conversation Window

Also, Since this is supposed to be a more private conversation window where people will be apparently having conversations about that they think should not be part of the regular chat history, then it won’t come as a surprise if the company natively decided to disable the ability to capture screenshots or at least if notifies users if the person at the other end captures screenshots while in the disappearing mode.

When this new feature was spotted this March, Instagram also confirmed its existence saying, that yes “We are always exploring new features and updates to improve your messaging experience. So, for that, we are testing this feature which is still in early development and not testing externally just yet!”, in a tweet.

Announcement Awaited From Instagram

Now that as the interface looks more refined, we could at least expect Instagram to make an announcement soon in the coming weeks or in the upcoming months. Even with the feature, it is unlikely that existing Snapchat users will switch completely to Instagram. Do share your thoughts in the comments.