Opera for Desktop Gets Instagram Integration as a Part of Version 68

Opera 68 has been released for desktop users with integrated access to Instagram. This means that you'll be able to use Instagram through the latest Opera browser directly from your desktop or laptop, based on Windows, macOS, or Linux. Instagram joins the existing Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram integrations that all can be accessed through the sidebar of the Web browser. Opera also recently brought a Workspaces feature to let users group tabs in up to five separate workspaces and manage multiple tasks from a single browser window.

To enable access to Instagram, Opera has provided a dedicated icon on the sidebar that brings up the photo-sharing app in a separate screen. You can access stories and direct messages (DMs) directly from the integration, just after signing in using your Instagram account. Additionally, there is also the main Instagram feed that shows all the recent posts from the accounts you follow. The overall experience is in line with what Instagram natively brought to its dedicated Web client last week.

In the recent weeks, Opera has also promised to expand the existing access and bring a full-fledged Instagram on desktop experience.

Opera lets users easily access their Instagram DMs from the latest browser

“People like to have the choice of which social media platforms to use and on which device to access them,” said Maciej Kocemba, Product Director, Opera, in a statement. “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 or DMs.”

Opera already has access to Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram. The company said that it had noticed an increase in usage of all these integrated messaging apps as people were staying at home and observing social distancing as much as possible. To give a perspective, it claimed that the use of built-in WhatsApp access grew 58 percent in the US, while the use of Facebook Messenger on the browser increased by 173 percent in the past two and a half months.

“We have found that social media was one of the main reasons people were getting distracted and constantly checking their phones, but right now desktop browsing is striking back. People can finally put down their phones,” said Kocemba.

You can download the latest Opera version on your desktop directly from its website. Make sure that you have a compatible machine to run the update.

In February, Opera introduced the Workplaces feature to let you organise your tabs according to their requirements and cycle between the active tabs using Ctrl + Tab. The company also brought a Sidebar panel to give quick access to messengers and other features.