Instagram’s new app is yet another riff on Snapchat

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Instagram is copying Snapchat.

The latter app is known for posts that disappear after a set period of time, and Instagram has spent the past decade honing its version of that format. Now, the Meta-owned app is doubling down on its copycat behavior. A new app called Instants is based around disappearing posts that have minimal editing.

Instants is currently available in Spain and Italy. Users who download the app can only create posts via their phone’s camera; the photo and video libraries on their devices are off limits. Once an Instants post is uploaded, it remains visible for 24 hours, but each follower can only view it once.

With its sense of spontaneity, its focus on unvarnished content, and its ephemeral nature, Instants feels like Instagram’s answer to BeReal. The French social app peaked in 2022, when its simplified, throwback approach to social media earned it millions of new users. BeReal’s fortunes have reversed course since then, but the app is still eager to recruit more creator partners in the U.S.

The launch of Instants helps Instagram counter that push. Creators who might have been tempted by a BeReal offer can now access a similar experience on a Meta-branded app.

If you’re wondering why Instagram is aping BeReal and Snapchat on a new app instead of bringing copycat features to its main app (as it did in the past), the answer has to do with timing. TechCrunch notes that Instants has been released as an in-app Instagram feature in other regions. These days, however, Meta prefers to sequester some of its short-form experiments. CapCut-style features have been developed on an app called Edits, and the omnipresent Reels format might be getting its own app, too.

Separating Instants from Instagram lets Meta reimagine disappearing posts. Features like Storylines and comments have made Stories more interactive, and Meta is testing how much community it can build from its fleeting content.

An Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch that “multiple versions of Instants” will help developers refine the app. If you live in one of the regions where Instants is available, you can download it right now for both iOS and Android.