Meta — the parent company of facebook and instagram — is reportedly developing a new stand‑alone app called Instants that may compete directly with Snapchat by focusing on the core feature that made Snapchat popular: ephemeral photos and videos that disappear after viewing. This development highlights Meta’s ongoing efforts to capture the same user behavior that helped Snapchat grow its audience.
🧠 What Is Instants?
Instants is an internal prototype app currently being tested within Meta, but it has not yet been released to the public or made available for general testing. The app is designed to let users send and receive disappearing visual content — photos and short videos — to friends, with messages vanishing after they are viewed or after a set time period.
According to reports, Meta’s internal prototype Instants was spotted within Instagram’s interface and listed under an internal section called “Also from Meta,” where it was described as a way to share temporary photos with friends.
📸 How Instants Works
Here’s what the app aims to do:
- Share disappearing photos and videos: Like Snapchat’s original messaging feature, images and clips disappear after being opened.
- Mutual followers only: Users may only send Instants to people they mutually follow, emphasising private, close‑friend sharing.
- Ephemeral content: The content may vanish immediately after viewing or automatically within 24 hours.
Unlike Instagram’s regular feed or Stories features, Instants has no permanent public posting component — its entire design is tailored to short‑lived, private conversations.
🔎 Instants vs Snapchat: What’s the Competition?
Instants clearly mirrors the core experience of Snapchat, which pioneered the disappearing media concept. Snapchat users have long shared self‑erasing photos and videos — a format that emphasises spontaneity and privacy among friends.
Meta has a history of borrowing successful features from competitors:
- Instagram Stories originally emerged after Snapchat Stories proved popular.
- Temporary “View Once” and “Vanish Mode” messaging are already part of instagram today.
What makes Instants different is its status as a separate app rather than a built‑in feature, signalling a stronger intent to directly challenge Snapchat’s niche rather than simply offer a copy within Instagram.
🧩 Why Meta Is Building Instants
Meta is pursuing Instants for several strategic reasons:
1. Capture Ephemeral Messaging Users
Temporary content is especially popular with younger audiences, and Meta may see Instants as a way to retain and grow this demographic.
2. Expand Beyond Instagram’s Feed
By experimenting with separate apps (similar to Threads and Meta’s AI apps), Meta can create focused experiences instead of shoehorning every feature into Instagram’s main platform.
3. Stay Competitive in Social Messaging
Snapchat continues to innovate with AR wearables and social features, so Meta may see Instants as necessary to keep pace in real‑time communication trends.
⏳ Current Status: Internal Testing Only
At this stage:
- Instants is confirmed as an internal prototype, not a public app.
- Meta is also testing a version of the feature within instagram under the name Instants (previously Shots), but only in select regions.
- The company has not yet announced a launch date or confirmed if and when the app will be rolled out broadly.
It’s also worth noting that many prototypes Meta tests internally never become full products, so the final fate of Instants remains uncertain.
🤔 Could Instants Recreate Snapchat’s Success?
While the concept behind Instants is familiar, replicating Snapchat’s cultural impact isn’t guaranteed. Snapchat has established itself as a platform centred around quick, playful communication and augmented reality experiences — something that may be hard to duplicate, even by a giant like Meta.
However, Meta’s ability to leverage its massive user base across instagram and facebook gives it a strong starting point if Instants ever launches publicly.
📝 Conclusion: A New Chapter in Social Messaging
Meta’s Instants app represents the latest step in the company’s efforts to innovate in ephemeral communication and challenge competitors like Snapchat. While still in internal testing, the standalone app could reshape the way users share casual, moment‑based visual content — emphasising private, fleeting interactions over persistent posts.
As competition intensifies in the social media landscape, Instants highlights Meta’s ongoing strategy to diversify its offerings and capture evolving user preferences.
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