Meta has launched Instants, a new Instagram feature that lets users share spontaneous, unedited photos that disappear once viewed. The feature went live globally on Wednesday.
Instants live in the bottom right corner of a user’s Instagram inbox, appearing as a small stack of photos. Users tap the camera, snap a photo in real time, and send it to either their Close Friends or mutual followers. No filters. No edits. Captions are allowed, but nothing else.
Once a friend views the photo, it disappears. If no one views it, it expires after 24 hours. Friends cannot screenshot or record Instants.
“No edits, no pressure, just life as it happens,” Meta said in its announcement.
Recipients can react with emojis or reply via DM. They can also send an Instant back. Shared Instants are saved privately in the sender’s archive for up to one year and can later be compiled into a recap and posted to Instagram Stories.
An undo button appears immediately after sending, giving users a brief window to take back an Instant before anyone sees it.
Along with the Instagram feature, Meta is also testing a standalone Instants app in select countries on iOS and Android. The app opens directly to the camera for faster access and uses an existing Instagram login. Instants shared through the app appear on Instagram for friends, and vice versa.
“We’re trying this separate app out to see how our community uses it,” Meta said.
Instagram Vice President of Products Tessa Lyons-Laing told USA Today that Gen Z users are five times more likely to use casual features like Notes compared to older users, signalling the demographic Meta is clearly targeting with this launch.
Teen accounts come with full Family Center protections, including shared time limits, Sleep Mode between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and parental notification the first time a teen downloads the standalone app.
Analysts are already drawing comparisons to Snapchat and BeReal. TechCrunch noted that while Instagram was once built around friends sharing moments, it has gradually become dominated by influencer content and ads. Instants appears to be a deliberate attempt to pull users back toward casual, private interactions.
Whether it works is another question. BeReal built its entire identity around unfiltered photo sharing and has since lost much of its momentum. Instagram is betting that baking the same idea into a platform with over two billion users will land differently.
Instants is available globally on Instagram starting today.
