Meta launches Instants, a new iPhone app and Instagram feature for ephemeral sharing

Meta has just launched a brand new iPhone app called Instants. Built around sharing ephemeral photos, the new social media app is also Instagram’s newest feature. Here’s what it does.

Instants is both a standalone iPhone app and an integrated feature within Instagram

Meta describes Instants as “a new way to share the moment – ​​with candid, unfiltered photos – with friends.”

Here is the general description of the new Meta app and feature:

Snapshots are fleeting for viewers, but are saved in your archives for up to a year and can be reshared as a recap in Stories. Friends can react and reply, with replies sent directly to DMs. There’s also an Instants companion app for quicker access to the camera. Full teen account and Family Center protections apply, including timeshare limits, sleep mode, and parental monitoring.

Why is Meta launching a new iPhone app and an Instagram feature around sharing ephemeral photos? The company explains that it wants to encourage organic social sharing.

We want to make it easier to share the present moment with your friends. That’s why we’re introducing Snapshots, a new way to share casual, everyday photos that disappear once your friends see them. Snapshots appear in the bottom right corner of your Instagram inbox, and with a tap of the camera, you can share photos with close or mutual friends (the followers you follow). No modifications, no pressure, just life as it happens.

This is how the new Instants feature works on Instagram

Next, Meta details five ways to use the new Instants feature and app:

• Go to your Instagram inbox and tap the mini photo stack in the bottom right corner.
• You can add a caption (unlike stories, you add the caption first!), but you can’t edit moments further.
• Choose who to share your moments with: close friends or subscribers you follow. Your friends can also react, respond and share moments.
• Tap the white button below the camera to share as many times as you want. An undo button will automatically appear the moment you share a moment in case you want to quickly resume it before it’s shared with friends.
• Snapshots you share will appear as a stack of photos in the lower right corner of your friends’ inboxes and will disappear once viewed.

Meta describes Moments as primarily a new feature of Instagram.

However, he says early testers wanted a faster way to use snapshots. For this reason, it is about “experimenting” with a standalone application.

The app gives you immediate access to the camera: simply log in with your existing Instagram account. Snaps you share on the separate app will show up for your friends on Instagram and vice versa. We’re trying this separate app to see how our community uses it, and we’ll continue to evolve it as we learn more. For those who want a faster way to share the moment, we’re also rolling out an Instants app in select countries on iOS and Android.

Instants for iPhone is available in the App Store starting today where it’s offered, and the new Instagram feature is now also arriving globally.

You can learn more about how Moments work here.