Instagram Quietly Launched a New Snapchat Rival Called “Instants”
Pecohub Instagram has quietly launched a brand-new standalone app called Instants, and honestly, it feels like Meta’s clearest attempt yet at building a direct Snapchat competitor.
The app officially appeared yesterday on the Play Store as “Instants, an Instagram app”, but interestingly, I actually discovered it inside Instagram first while watching some Instants shared by my friends.
A small banner appeared at the top of the screen saying: “Download Instants app”. And that’s when things started getting interesting.
Instagram has been experimenting with “Instants” since last year
If the concept sounds familiar, that’s because Instagram has already been testing something similar internally. Last year, Meta experimented with a feature called “Shots”, focused on fast-disappearing photo sharing between friends.
Now, it looks like the company has rebranded it to Instants for a few weeks already, and yesterday launched it as a full separate app that’s tied to your Instagram account and friends.
I was already using Instants from inside the Instagram app since last year, and they kept adding new features, like the ability to comment on someone’s Instant, or to add text over the photos.
And now, I also tried the app. This overall concept feels heavily inspired by Snapchat: fast photo sharing, disappearing content, casual friend interactions, and less polished, more “in-the-moment” posting. But Instagram is trying to connect it tightly with your existing account and followers.
The core idea behind Instants is simple: open the app, take a photo, and send it instantly. Photos are captured in a 1:1 square aspect ratio, giving them a very old-school Instagram vibe mixed with Snapchat-like behavior.
You can add text over photos, share with followers or Close Friends, view disappearing Instants from friends, react to Instants, and comment on Instants. And unlike Stories, these aren’t designed to stay around publicly. Once viewed, the photos disappear and cannot be replayed.
Your history is saved privately for 1 year
One interesting detail is that Meta still keeps your Instants archive saved privately for up to 1 year. Inside the app, you can revisit old Instants you shared, delete them, or save them locally to your gallery. So while the experience feels temporary, your content doesn’t completely vanish from your account immediately.
Minimal and simple app
The app feels intentionally simple, and after testing it, one thing became very obvious: Instants is extremely minimal.
From the top right corner, you can view your Instants history and select them to either delete them or save them to your device’s gallery. From the top left corner, you get the settings menu. The settings menu mostly includes:
There’s no massive customization system, complex editing suite, filters, or overloaded interface. Honestly? That simplicity is probably intentional. Before taking a picture, you can quickly choose who can view it. Either the mutual followers you follow back on Instagram, or only your Instagram Close Friends list.
That control sits directly at the bottom of the camera interface, making sharing feel immediate.
