As Facebook pushes ahead with its strategy to consolidate more of the backend of its various apps on to a single platform, it’s also doing a little simplifying and housekeeping. In the coming month, it will shut down Direct, the standalone Instagram direct messaging app that it was testing to rival Snapchat, on iOS and Android. Instead, Facebook and its Instagram team will channel all developments and activity into the direct messaging feature of the main Instagram app.
A spokesperson for Instagram told TechCrunch that they are indeed “rolling back the test of the standalone Direct app,” adding that they are focused on continuing to make Instagram Direct the best place for fun conversations with your friends. Conversations will automatically be moved over to the main Instagram app so you won’t need to take any action to keep using Direct messaging.
As TechCrunch understands it, Instagram will continue to develop Direct features but they’ll simply live in the main app from here on out.
