That's Direct

Instagram has just launched, by surprise and without anyone expecting it, its new WhatsApp-style messaging application. An application that we already gave a good account of on these same pages back in December and that today, March 23, is already a reality for Android users. Direct, which is the name of this new Instagram initiative, aims to separate the entire 'private' section from the mother application so that it has its own utility. We have already had the opportunity to try it and we will tell you what we think.

Direct: Instagram's WhatsApp is already a reality

At the moment, the Direct application is not available for everyone. If you search the Android Play Store and are unable to find it, that's okay, you can still try it. You will have to go to a trusted repository like APKMirror and download it from there. We leave you a link where you can download and install it completely free.

Once you have it installed, we are going to proceed to open it. The application will automatically detect if you have an Instagram account and you will be able to start sending Direct messages without having to enter your username and password again. The Direct interface will be very familiar to you because it is quite similar to the one in which you make the stories, although with changes: you will be able to capture images with a mask, boomerangs, hands-free... and, as the main attraction, you will be able to activate in the mode of front display an impromptu 'flash' (display glows white) to better capture selfies in low light.

Once the photo is taken, you can add stickers, text, hand-drawn drawings or activate a 'bomb': if we press this upper icon, the person to whom we send the photo will only be able to see it once . You can then save the photo and send it to one of your contacts on Instagram to or a group of them.

If we slide the screen with our finger to the right, we will access the application menu. A menu with which we will go directly to our Instagram account We can also go to it in the upper icon that appears on the contact screen.

Now, when we open the paper plane icon on Instagram the Direct application will open. From now on, the two applications are different but they will work in an interacted way.Whether Instagram Direct is successful, only time will tell.

Is the new Direct app necessary?

With Direct there are already three messaging applications that have the emporium of Mark Zuckerberg. WhatsApp is the only genuine messaging app with its own entity, since Messenger Facebook works as a complement to Facebook and Direct to Instagram. Facebook users saw how the messaging section of the social network disappeared, having to be forced to download a separate application. That this could happen is a fact: for now, when we press the paper plane, Direct opens, but what if we don't have it downloaded? Will we have to do it like it already happened with Messenger?

For now, Direct can be a good alternative for anyone who uses Instagram only to connect in a more personal and private way.Also, if you are one of those who have recently deleted Facebook, it will be nice to have an additional messaging app. At the moment it makes little sense, at the user level, to have a new application for something that we could already do with just one.