Instagram direct messages appear to be integrated into Threads

Slowly and gradually, Meta is improving the features of Threads. Notably, the platforms still lack the DM feature. According to a recent APK teardown, it appears like the feature might soon arrive in the Android version of Threads. Well, this was quite necessary if Threads wanted to compete with X (formerly Twitter).

The version 315.0.0.29.109 indicates that the platform might incorporate Instagram’s messaging system. It appears from the strings that Threads may incorporate Instagram chats directly, functioning as a sort of “clone” app. The statement “Your most recent chats will show up here when you message people on Instagram” seems to imply that Threads will only integrate a portion of the Instagram messaging system, though we could be mistaken. Though you might be able to initiate or reply to conversations in Threads, you might need to swiftly go to Instagram in order to view previous conversations and make use of more sophisticated features.

What this could imply for Threads’ goals is to enable ActivityPub, which would make it simple to integrate the service with other services like Mastodon. ActivityPub does not include Instagram’s private messaging system; therefore, it would be weird to see a version of Threads with some federated elements (posts, responses, etc.) and some centralized elements (DMs). There isn’t currently enough data to draw conclusions.

Well, there is no concrete evidence on whether this feature makes it to the stable version of the app or not. There is a possibility that the company is just trying to explore all the possible options with this approach. We will provide more details on the topic once we get them.