New: Request to Join a Friend’s Live Video

Going live with a friend is now even easier. Starting today, when a friend is live, you can let them know you’d like to join in the fun and hang out live together.

When watching a friend’s live video, simply tap the “Request” button in the comments section. You’ll see a confirmation that your friend has accepted your request, and you’ll have a moment to prepare. Once you’re live, the screen will split in half so you can hang out live with your friend. You can leave your friend’s live video at any time, making it easy to join for a quick hello or a longer chat.

When hosting your own live video, you can easily see requests from friends who want to join. In the comments section, you’ll see a notification for each request. Just tap the “View” button and then choose to add your friend or cancel the request.

The new icon with two smiley faces will also have a red number showing how many requests you have. Tap the icon, and you’ll see both requests and current viewers. You can either accept a request or invite any viewer to join you.

As always, you can remove a guest and add someone else at any time. When you’re done, you can share your live video to stories, or choose “Discard” and your live video will disappear from the app as usual.

Going live together is the best way to connect in real time and have fun with friends, even when you’re not together. With this update, friends have even more ways to quickly join each other’s live videos.

To learn more about today’s updates, check out the Instagram Help Center.

These updates are available as part of Instagram version 24 available for iOS in the Apple App Store and for Android in Google Play.