- All accounts are automatically set to reveal user activity to friends
- Latest activity is shown to friends that have been privately messaged rather than to all followers
Instagram addicts beware.
The app has quietly introduced a new feature called ‘Last Active’ that shows friends the last time you logged on to the app.
The default setting for the app is ‘on’ – meaning your closest friends can know exactly when you’ve been scrolling through their feeds.
The unnerving feature appears on Instagram’s direct messages section beneath followers you’ve been chatting with.
When users swipe left after opening the app, the private messaging function opens. Here, a list of all past conversations are revealed with usernames, profile images and now, a ‘last active’ note including showing if users are currently active
The feature appears for those who have the latest version of the app.
As well as seeing the last time you were active, users can see when you’re ‘typing’ back to them.
Not all your followers will be able to see when you were most recently on Instagram.
The feature only appears for people you follow previously chatted to on direct messages.
It will show how many minutes or hours ago you were scrolling through your feed.
The activity tracking can be turned off relatively easily in the settings of the app.
Scrolling down through the options the ‘show activity status’ option is below other options such as language and vibration customisation.
The option can be toggled on or off.
In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for the sum of £629 million ($1 billion). Facebook also bought messaging app WhatsApp two years later in 2014 for £11.4 billion ($19 billion)
Scrolling down through the options the ‘show activity status’ option is below other options such as language and vibration customisation. The option can be toggled on or off in the account settings of the app