Opera is adding a built-in Instagram feature to the newest version of its desktop browser, Opera 68. The popular browser (Windows, Mac and Linux) already has several built-in messengers in the sidebar, including Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Telegram.

Recent weeks, with people staying at home and social distancing as much as possible, have seen them increasingly rely on social media to stay in touch with friends and loved ones. This is also visible in the growing usage of Opera’s built-in messengers as people increasingly turn to desktop computing not only for work but also in their free time: the use of Opera’s built-in WhatsApp has grown 58% in the US along with the use of Facebook Messenger 173% in the past two and a half months.

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Instagram no longer a mobile-only platform

Instagram is no longer a mobile-only platform: the company has recently rolled out more features in its web version, including instastories or DMs.

Opera users will get access to the main Instagram feed, Instastories, the explore function, and DMs, which have grown in popularity over recent years and even more so in recent weeks.

“People like to have the choice of which social media platforms to use and on which device to access them. We are integrating Instagram to give them better access to their friends and loved ones and for them to have the convenience of using a large display and keyboard to watch Instastories or write comments and DMs,”said Maciej Kocemba, product director at Opera.

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Enabling the Instagram feature in the Opera browser

To enable Instagram in Opera, one has to simply click the Instagram icon in the sidebar on the left and log into an Instagram account. Once that is done, users are all set: they can use the social network in their favorite way.

In 2019, Opera’s PC user base grew 11 percent to 68 million (Average Monthly Users “MAU” fourth quarter 2019) and has continued to see increasing engagement with 73 million MAU  in March.

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