Instagram announced several updates to its messaging service, including longer voice clips and live transcription. The updates come as DMs are becoming the main driver of growth for the platform.
Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s head, recently reiterated the importance of DMs for the app: “way more photos and videos are shared into DMs” before labelling the evolution as a”paradigm shift” in user behavior.
Also Read | Now You Can Save Your Favorite TikTok Songs on SoundCloud
There is also a fast growing trend among all messaging apps: voice clips are replacing text-based messages.
Answering to this evolution, Instagram will now allow for longer voice clips on its app, with a new maximum length of 5 minutes (previously 1 minute.) The app had been testing this with select users for some time, the results of which convinced the company that longer DMs were a necessity. So now you can rant for longer, share more context and perhaps even sing an entire song to your friends.
The main update, however, concerns text transcription. Yes, voice clips are on the rise, but there still is a need to connect when you can’t listen to messages out loud. Starting immediately, all voice lips shared vis DMs will allow recipients to get an in-stream transcription via a new “View transcription” button below the audio wave.
“Now when you receive a voice message in DMs, you can view a transcription of the audio before, during, and after you play the voice message, making it easier to connect with friends even when you can’t listen to their message out loud.”
So if your friends love sending you voice clips but you still rely on good old text, you’re covered.
