Unlocking Romance: Instagram’s Secret Valentine’s Day Features Revealed

Instagram has unveiled new hidden features to elevate your Valentine’s Day festivities, adding a touch of magic to your social media experience. These clandestine additions, tucked away within the Android and iOS apps, promise delightful surprises for users who uncover them. One such feature resides discreetly in the Notes section within the direct messages (DM) interface. Here, users can unlock a captivating floating hearts animation by typing Valentine’s Day-related phrases like “Happy Valentine’s Day,” “Happy Vday,” or simply “Vday.”

Upon triggering these keywords in a note, recipients will receive a DM containing the enchanting floating hearts that dance across their screen, spreading love and warmth. Furthermore, this heartwarming effect can also be activated by tapping on a note adorned with Valentine’s Day-themed words, unleashing the same mesmerizing animation.

Meanwhile, the second hidden gem awaits discovery within Instagram Stories, offering another avenue for expression and connection. Within the stickers section, users will find a special @mention adorned in vibrant pink hues, accompanied by charming hearts on each side.

By tagging a fellow user with this unique mention and sharing the Story, a similar cascade of floating hearts will ensue, infusing the digital realm with romance and joy. Additionally, interacting with another user’s Story featuring this mention will evoke the same delightful animation, fostering a shared experience of love and celebration.

While the features have been rolled out and some users have reported using them, it is not yet available for all users. While the features are being introduced on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, they will remain in the app until Thursday, according to the company.

The Meta-owned platform is also experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI)-based features lately. Recently, a report highlighted that Instagram is working on an AI message-writing feature that will allow users to rewrite, paraphrase, and make stylistic changes to their written messages in chats. While the feature itself is tipped to be known as Write with AI, it appears to work more like an editing tool. The full functionality of this feature is not yet known.