Instagram tests Instants, a new app to share temporary and unedited photos with friends

Instagram is testing instantsa new independent application aimed at sharing temporary photos with friends quickly and without editing. The app, available for now in Spain and Italy, seeks to recover a more casual and direct use of the social network, moving away from the more polished and public content that today dominates a good part of Instagram.

According to the information provided by the company and the notes published on Google Play, Instants allows you to take a photo with one touch from the app’s built-in camera. It does not support uploading images from the mobile gallery and does not offer editing tools, although it does allow you to add text before sharing the capture.

The proposal revolves around so-called instant photos, photos that can only be seen once and that are no longer available after 24 hours. Meta thus proposes an experience focused on everyday moments, with less aesthetic pressure and more focused on immediacy than on careful publication.

A separate app, but connected to Instagram

One of the most striking aspects is that Instants does not work as a completely isolated product. Instagram notes that users can view and share these photos both from the main app and from the new application. In addition, mutual followers and best friends lists are kept in sync with each other.

That approach suggests that Meta is still testing which format fits best: an integrated feature within Instagram or a separate app with its own identity. In fact, the company acknowledges that it had already tested Instants as an internal function in some regions before taking the step to this independent version for iOS and Android.

In terms of product, the idea is reminiscent of several platforms that have opted for ephemeral photography and spontaneous, like Snapchat, BeReal or Locket. The difference here is that Meta is trying to build on Instagram’s already existing social base, rather than building a new network from scratch.

Meta seeks a way to return to closer interactions

The move also reflects a known issue for the platform, which recently launched a Plus version. And over the years, the platform has been filled with ads, professional creators and content designed to maximize reach. In this context, Instants appears as an attempt to recover one more layer private and everyday of social experience.

Still, it remains to be seen if there is real room for another app of this type. Instagram already has Stories to share quick content, and the fashion for networks based on unfiltered photos is not going through its strongest moment. Therefore, more than a revolution, Instants seems for now to be an experiment with which Meta tries to check if there is still demand for a simpler and less exposed way of sharing everyday life.