Instagram is apparently not satisfied with being a photo sharing application where you go and do just about anything with photos that you can imagine. That said, Instagram might be coming up with a way to keep you glued in the app without the need to carry out your other social activities outside the app. They are now reportedly working on a voice and video call features as well in addition to its livestream feature. The feature was first spotted by tech news site, TechCrunch who received a tip on the Instagram APK file with the voice and video call features.
According to TechCrunch, Instagram has yet to officially comment on this but there is no denying it at this point as multiple sites have now seen and tested the feature in Android Application Packages (APKs). “Now that the button icons are in APK, which is publicly available but takes work to decompile and comb through, it’s hard for the company to deny the coming launch. Last month it gave me a no comment when TechCrunch spotted a new Giphy GIF sharing feature…which then launched a week later.”
This just means that in addition to the many voice and video call applications we already have, Instagram is just going to be an addition making it the third Facebook product to bring such services on board. Messenger and WhatsApp already have a robust call platform and I’m not just sure why they had to add Instagram to the list. It could just be Facebook’s way of dominating the social voice over internet protocol (VoIP) market eventually.
The addition of voice and video calling would definitely make Instagram a voice call option to Snapchat, which first; launched its own video calling feature back in 2014 and upgraded the component with less demanding access in addition to sound and video notes in 2016. What’s now clear is that Instagram would probably do everything to implement Snapchat services especially now that they have more users even though Snapchat still retains its “loyal” teen users.
As it is now, we would have to wait and see if the feature will eventually be launched to the public because. It may very well not see the light of day.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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