Instagram has hidden secret Halloween ‘Easter eggs’ inside app – the first is inside your DMs

INSTAGRAM has given the app a sneaky upgrade packed with Halloween surprises.

If you haven't spotted any yet then you're in for a treat.

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First make sure that your Instagram app is updated to the latest version.

You can check by going into the Apple App Store on iPhone or the Google Play Store on .

Then head into your DMs – or Direct Messages – to find the first spooky Halloween treat.

There are several phrases that you can type to trigger a special effect.

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Try sending a message that says any of the following:

• Halloween
• Happy Halloween
• Trick or treat
• Trick-or-treat

The message will send as orange instead and trigger a flurry of bats that fly across the page.

And if you tap the orange message again, the bat animation will repeat.

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Your friend will see the same animation when they open the message for the first time.

And they can tap on it too to make it repeat.

The second upgrade is a new Halloween theme for your chats.

Just go into a Direct Message chat then tap on the recipient's name at the top.

Now tap on the Theme panel and choose the new option called Halloween.

It'll give your chat a nice pumpkin background – and there are even dark and light options depending on your phone's setup.

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Importantly, the theme is on a per-chat basis, so you can use it for one conversation but not for another.

And if you don't like it, you can always change it back to the default.

You can also set this theme for your broadcast channel, if you have one.

Better still, if you don't like this one then you can use the Meta AI theme option to create something entirely different.

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Lastly, there are some new Halloween templates for your Stories.

And there's a new Halloween font that you can use for those Stories too.

HOW TO UPDATES ON IPHONE AND ANDROID

Here's what you need to know...

This is the official Apple advice for manually updating an app on iPhone:

1. Open the App Store.
2. Tap your profile icon at the top of the screen.
3. Scroll to see pending updates and release notes. Tap Update next to an app to update only that app, or tap Update All.

And this is the official Google advice for manually updating an app on an Android phone:

• Open the Google Play Store app Google Play.
• At the top right, tap the profile icon.
• Tap Manage apps & device and then Manage.
• Tap the app you want to update. Tip: Apps with an update available are labeled "Update available."
• Tap Update.

The steps may be different if you're using a very old phone running outdated software.