Tired of text messages? Now you can speak with your friends over Instagram

Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram has introduced a new way to converse over direct messages. So far, you could only send and receive text messages over Instagram Direct. Going forward, Instagram users can also speak with other users directly over Instagram messages. This seems like a noble move given the popularity of Instagram stories.

In most cases, users respond to Instagram stories over direct messages which in turn leads to a series of messages shared between them. We are awaiting more clarity on whether Instagram will add this new feature to direct messages sent in response to Instagram stories. In what seems to be a server-sided rollout, Instagram has started making audio messaging accessible in direct messages.

How to send voice messages on Instagram

Step 1: Though we didn’t see any update coming by our way, it’s recommended that you keep your Instagram up-to-date. You should keep a tab on the update by manually going to Google Play Store for Android and App Store for iOS.

Step 2: Open Instagram > Tap on “direct message” icon at the top right corner. Once you open the list of your most-recent chats on Instagram, all you can do is select a contact to send an audio message.

Step 3: Open the chat. In the text box, you will find a microphone icon. Similar to sending audio messages over WhatsApp, you need to press and hold the microphone icon to record messages. If you want to delete a message even before you send it, swipe left without taking your finger off.

Step 4: Once you lift up your finger, your recorded audio message will be sent. If you accidentally end up sending a wrong message to a wrong user, all you need to do is long press the clip at tap the option ‘Unsend message.’