Instagram may be adding video and voice calling features
Instagram started out as a photo sharing app, but pretty soon it could be a one-stop shop for sharing photos, calling your friends and hosting video chats.
Hidden code buried in the app shows that the Facebook-owned social media platform could be prepping video and voice calling features.
The features would be added to the main Instagram app, as well as the standalone Direct messaging app, according to TechCrunch, which was tipped off to the code by reader Ishan Agarwal.
It's been rumored for several months that Instagram may be prepping voice and video calling features, but the new code gives further credence to the fact that the tools could be hitting the app soon.
Files and icons for 'call' and 'video call' were spotted in the Instagram app and in the Direct app's Android Application Packages (APKs).
APKs often show files for unreleased features that the company is planning to release on the app in the future, TechCrunch noted.
In January, leaked images showed a purported video call icon in the top right corner of an Instagram Direct message. The feature was spotted by technology blog WABetaInfo.
Instagram's Direct messaging feature lets users communicate with one or more people in a private thread, where they can share images and videos from their Instagram feed.
So far, Instagram has denied that these features are coming to the app.
Instagram would be taking a page from Snapchat if it decides to introduce the video and voice calling features.
Snapchat started allowing users to call their friends from inside the app in 2016.
The feature lets users answer calls with video or voice, as well as message back and forth with other users while they're on a call.
Facebook Messenger also has a video calling feature.
Currently, users can upload videos to their Instagram feed or broadcast a live Instagram stream, but they can't call friends from inside the app.
The streams can then be saved onto the users' Instagram Stories and be viewed for up to 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Instagram has been busy introducing other new features to the app over the last few months.
In February, Instagram began testing a new feature that lets users know when you screenshot a post on their Instagram Stories.
The firm also rolled out a 'Type Mode' feature that introduces a host of new fonts, backgrounds and other effects to Instagram Stories.
For the first time ever, Instagram allowed users to publish text-only posts to their profile, marking a major shift for the app that's heavily focused on image-based sharing.
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