Instagram launches new app for disappearing photos – sound familiar?

When Meta launched Threads in 2023, it was very clear what the goal was. The app looked a lot like Twitter (as it was still known for the next two weeks), and that was clearly part of the issue. Meta is now trying a similar game with its latest Instagram spin-off, Instants — except this time, the app it most resembles is Snapchat.

The new app was highlighted in a thread post (via 9to5Google) from Instagram head Adam Mosseri, while play store list Fills in key details. Instants is described as an app from Instagram that lets you share disappearing photos with friends and “connect with your favorite people in life’s little moments.”

The app opens directly to the camera so you can send photos instantly without any editing, and anything you share won’t be able to be seen again once it’s gone or after 24 hours. Meta also says that you can share and view these disappearing photos instantly or in the main Instagram app.

That last bit makes sense, since this kind of instant, in-the-moment sharing already existed inside Instagram, but Instants gives it its own dedicated app. Turning it into a different experience is almost certainly an effort to rival Snapchat, which has spent years owning this kind of fast-and-loose sharing between friends. Instant doesn’t look particularly subtle in that context, and the meta probably isn’t trying to do that.

The problem for Zuckerberg this time is that he doesn’t have the world’s richest man to alienate parts of his rival’s user base. The Play Store listing says the app was updated on April 19 and currently only shows 100+ downloads, so the trend to try out the app clearly hasn’t started yet. Still, if you want this Snapchat-like part of Instagram as a standalone app, Instant appears to do exactly that.