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Meta continues to innovate by presenting new design elements and features to homogeneously express the various platforms it has. Photo/randr/android police
MENLO PARK – Meta is known as one of the largest social media companies in the business with several platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta continues to innovate by presenting new design elements and features to homogeneously express the various platforms it has.
Instagram already allows cross-posting of content to Facebook, and WhatsApp is working on sharing updates directly to Facebook in April. Earlier this month, the Android Police page reported that it was working on a similar integration between WhatsApp and Instagram.
Beta testers report a new tooltip that encourages deeper integration between the two apps. Nestled deep within the privacy settings for temporary status updates, beta testers discovered a new option that allows linking an Instagram account to WhatsApp, making sharing updates from WhatsApp to WhatsApp just a tap away.
Beta testers for the app told WABetaInfo that this change is only available on Android version 2.23.26.17. The UI is still a work in progress, but WhatsApp can prompt users to cross-post status updates to Instagram and Facebook using a new banner under the My Status option.
WABetaInfo reiterates that sharing updates to Instagram should remain completely optional for WhatsApp users once the feature is rolled out. Additionally, users will have to tap an option in the new banner after posting a status update to share it to Instagram.
To avoid accidental errors, it appears that Meta does not automate the cross-posting process. “This is very useful because not everyone who follows you on Instagram has your phone number, and people tend to use WhatsApp and Instagram for different purposes,” wrote WABetaInfo.
That’s probably why Instagram and WhatsApp’s privacy settings for Stories and status updates will remain independent of each other. The advantage of this banner should make this new feature immediately visible to users after its official launch, but there is still no information on when it will be widely accessible.
For now, this banner isn’t even visible to beta testers, but developments suggest that WhatsApp is definitely working on integration with Instagram. Despite many new features and updates, WhatsApp has maintained its individuality well in the last few years.
(wib)