Instagram is currently testing a new feature that will allow you to see the online status for people that they been conversing with on DMs (Direct Messages). At the moment, the feature works even if the person is not following your account. Other features such as text-only stories and alerts for screenshots are also currently in the works!
The new Instagram feature is similar to ‘Last Seen’ on WhatsApp and ‘Active at’ on Facebook Messenger. You can access this feature by going into the Instagram Direct messages section of the app. It shows the last time stamp when the user was online on the app. It has options like ‘Active now’, ‘Active today’, ‘Active 1h ago’, ‘Active 15m ago’ etc. The feature is set to arrive both Android and iOS.
Apart from that, Instagram is also testing a new ‘Type’ feature which enables text-only, written stories on the mobile app. While Instagram Stories have always been based on images and video, this new feature is expected to show up next to other choices such as Boomerang, Rewind, and Superzoom and will give you the privilege to choose from different fonts, different backgrounds, and even apply filters.
Lastly, Instagram is testing out a security feature on its app which will send notifications to users if someone takes a screenshot of their stories. Instagram currently notifies users of a screenshot only if the image or video is sent on Instagram Direct. Now, very similar to Snapchat, the feature will be expanded to public stories as well.
