How to video chat on Instagram? A complete guide
The launch of the IGTv feature on Instagram has been a huge success and the platform has not stopped there. Soon after, in the summer of 2019, Instagram has launched yet another feature – now you can video chat with one or several of your friends in direct messages without leaving Instagram. This move is allowing Instagram to keep its users on the platform even longer than before, eliminating the need for apps like Skype, Facetime and others.
How to video chat on Instagram?
Instagram has made it extremely easy for users to use the video chat feature on the app. All you need to do is make sure that you have the latest version of the app installed on you Android or iOS phone. Next, open your direct messages on Instagram and choose a person to chat with from your existing dialogues. Alternatively, start a new message thread by tapping the plus icon and typing the username of the person you want to talk to. Finally, open the conversation and tap on the camera icon, which should be located in the upper right corner of the screen. The app will start a video chat with your friend. You can also conduct group calls using this feature – just choose a message thread that has all the friends you want to call in it and tap on the same icon – the call will go out to everyone.
Things to remember about Instagram video chat
As we’ve said above, you can use the new video chat feature on Instagram to call multiple people. To be exact, you can talk to up to four friends at the same time, and the coolest thing is that you will be able to see all of them on your screen at the same time as well! Instagram does not have a time limit on these video chat calls, so you can talk to your friends as long as you want. And if you ever miss a call from your friends, just open the direct message thread with them and check if the camera button in the top right corner is blue. If it is, it means that your friends are still chatting and you can simply tap the button to join the conversation.
Instagram video chat safety
If you’re worried that this new feature will give people you don’t know the possibility to harass you with calls, don’t be. Other users will only be allowed to call you if you’ve ever had a conversation in direct messages. And the same goes for you. If you are following someone and you’ve never messaged each other on Instagram, you will only be able to call them after they’ve messaged you. And if you’ve ever blocked someone on Instagram, they will never be able to call you until you unblock them, even if you’ve messaged each other before.
Multitask while video chatting on Instagram
While it’s awesome that you can see your friends’ faces while you video chat on Instagram, you can actually minimize them by tapping the button in the upper left corner of the screen. After this you can browse your feed, send direct messages and more! Your friends will still be able to see your face during this and they won’t be able to see your screen, giving you privacy to do whatever you want.
