Instagram adds video chat that supports up to 50 people, here's how to use it

By Stephen Warwick
published

Instagram logo on a Galaxy S10
Instagram logo on a Galaxy S10 (Image credit: Joe Maring / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Instagram now supports integration with Facebook Messenger Rooms for video calling.
  • It means you can launch a video call with up to 50 people directly from Instagram.
  • Creating a room is simple, and can be found in the DMs section of the Instagram app.

Instagram has announced integration with Facebook's Messenger Rooms feature, which supports calls with up to 50 people. This means you can now launch video calls directly from within Instagram.

In a Tweet yesterday evening Instagram said:

An easy way to video chat with up to 50 of your favorite people? Yes please Starting today, you can create @messenger Rooms on Instagram and invite anyone to join

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The new feature will support group calls of up to 50 people, significantly more than WhatsApp, and is based on integration with Facebook's own Messenger Rooms

To set up a Facebook Messenger Room within Instagram and invite people to join you, here's what you need to do (as per Instagram's video accompanying the announcement):

  1. Open Instagram, and select the Direct icon in the top right-hand corner. (It looks like a paper airplane, and is where your direct messages live)
  2. Select the camera icon in the top right-hand corner.
  3. Tap the 'Create a Room' banner at the top of the screen, it has a blue icon and says "Send a Link to video chat with anyone, even if they don't have Instagram"
  4. Select the blue 'Create Room as (your name) at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Simply select all the people you would like to invite into your room, a blue tick will highlight next to their name.
  6. Press 'Send' at the bottom of the screen.
  7. You can then select to 'Join Room', which will take you out of Instagram and into Facebook Messenger. (You can also share the room at this stage)

As you'll have noticed, this method takes you out of Instagram, so you'll need Facebook Messenger installed on your phone. This isn't video chatting within Instagram per se, but rather integration to start a Facebook Messenger Room.

Instagram didn't comment on the rollout timeframe for the new feature, and we can confirm it doesn't look to be available in the UK just yet, so keep your eyes peeled for a potential update or a server-side change to the app.