Instagram announced on Wednesday that it\u2019s globally launching \u201cInstants,\u201d a new feature for sharing authentic, disappearing photos after testing it with select users. The feature lets users share disappearing photos with their close friends or mutual followers that can be viewed only once and remain available for 24 hours.<\/p>\n
The app borrows ideas from social platforms like Snapchat, Locket, and BeReal, as it focuses on authentic and ephemeral content. <\/p>\n
Unlike Instagram, which is about curated and polished content, Instants is designed for quick, real-life snapshots. With Instants, you capture a photo with Instagram\u2019s in-app camera and aren\u2019t allowed to edit the image. The format doesn\u2019t allow uploads from your camera, and, although you can add text to your \u201cinstants,\u201d you can\u2019t modify them any further. Meta said in a blog post that the idea behind this format is to share authentic moments as they\u2019re happening.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that Meta is also testing the Instants format as a stand-alone app in select regions, including Spain and Italy.<\/p>\n
You can capture an Instant by tapping the mini photo stack in the bottom right corner of your Instagram inbox. After you share your Instant, recipients can react with emojis, reply, and send an Instant back. Meta notes that recipients can\u2019t screenshot or record Instants that you\u2019ve shared.<\/p>\n Instagram stores your shared Instants in a private archive that you can see for up to one year. You can also compile Instants from your archive into a recap and post it to Instagram Stories.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve accidentally shared an Instant, you can tap the \u201cundo\u201d button and delete an Instant from your archive to unsend it to friends who haven\u2019t opened it yet. <\/p>\n And if you don\u2019t want to receive Instants, you can hold down the pile of Instants in your inbox and swipe right to temporarily stop receiving them. You can also choose to block or mute specific people.<\/p>\n Although Instagram began as a way for friends to share moments with each other, the platform has gradually become overrun with influencer content and ads. With Instants, the company looks to be leaning back into more casual, private interactions centered around photo sharing among circles of friends.<\/p>\n However, Instagram may be a bit late to capitalize on the trend of low-pressure, authentic photo sharing, as BeReal is\u00a0not as popular as it once was, and many users already use Instagram Stories for fast, informal updates and might not see the need for a separate app and feature to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/05\/13\/instagrams-new-instants-feature-combines-elements-from-snapchat-and-bereal\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/instants-instagram.png?resize=1200,763″] Instagram announced on Wednesday that it\u2019s globally launching \u201cInstants,\u201d a new feature for sharing authentic, disappearing photos after testing it with select users. The feature lets users share disappearing photos with their close friends or mutual followers that can be viewed only once and remain available for 24 hours. The app borrows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,62],"class_list":["post-1934256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-techcrunch-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1934256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1934256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1934256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1934256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Instants_A-New-Way-to-Share-in-the-Moment_Header.gif?w=680\")