Meta launches Instants, a new iPhone app and Instagram feature for ephemeral sharing
Source: 9to5Mac
Meta just launched a brand‑new iPhone app called Instants. Built around ephemeral photo sharing, the new social‑media app is also the latest Instagram feature. Here’s what it does.
Instants is both a standalone iPhone app and a feature inside Instagram
Meta describes Instants as “a new way to share in the moment – with spontaneous, unfiltered photos – with friends.”
- Instants are ephemeral to viewers but are saved in your archive for up to a year and can be reshared as a recap to Stories.
- Friends can react and reply, with replies going straight to DMs.
- A companion app provides quicker camera access.
- Full Teen Accounts and Family Center protections apply, including shared time limits, Sleep Mode, and parental supervision.
Meta explains the launch as a push for organic social sharing:
“We want to make it easier to share in the moment with friends — so we’re introducing Instants, a new way to share casual, everyday photos that disappear after your friends view them. Instants live in the bottom‑right corner of your Instagram inbox, and with a simple tap of the camera, you can share photos with close friends or mutuals (followers you follow back). No edits, no pressure, just life as it happens.”
Here’s how the new Instants feature on Instagram works
- Go to your Instagram inbox and tap the mini stack of photos at the bottom right corner.
- Add a caption (unlike Stories, you add the caption first!), but you can’t further edit Instants.
- Choose who to share your Instants with – Close Friends or followers you follow back. Your friends can react, reply, and share Instants as well.
- Tap the white button below the camera to share as many times as you want. An undo button appears immediately after you share, letting you retract the Instant before it reaches friends.
- Instants you share appear as a stack of photos in the bottom right corner of your friends’ inboxes and disappear after being viewed.
Early testers wanted a faster way to use Instants, so Meta is experimenting with a standalone app. The app gives immediate camera access—just log in with your existing Instagram account. Instants shared from the separate app appear for friends on Instagram and vice versa. Meta is rolling out the Instants app in select countries on iOS and Android.
Instants for iPhone is available in the App Store starting today where offered, and the new Instagram feature is now a global release.
You can learn more about how Instants works here.