{"id":624384,"date":"2026-04-24T00:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T00:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624384\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T00:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T00:06:21","slug":"instagram-instants-app-launches-and-its-basically-snapchat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624384\/","title":{"rendered":"Instagram &#8216;Instants&#8217; app launches, and it&#8217;s basically Snapchat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t<img width=\"1600\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/instagram-04.webp.jpeg\" class=\"skip-lazy wp-post-image\" alt=\"instagram\"  decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Instagram is once again expanding its list of social apps, this time with \u201cInstants,\u201d which mimics a core part of Snapchat.<\/p>\n<p>Available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@mattnavarra\/post\/DXeuddTCstd?xmt=AQF0SFfHqq9IrK_I5cXMXxpAYcCAVT4rWFVw1_yMsa931TnylnLlRXS2iY87Vu-mgcwRtGfr&amp;slof=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">now<\/a>, Instagram Instants is a dedicated app for what was known as \u201cShots.\u201d The functionality was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@mattnavarra\/post\/DOn0boNCo4D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">previously baked into the messages<\/a> section of Instagram and designed for quick, in-the-moment sharing. It wasn\u2019t the most well-known experience, though, which is probably a part of the reason it\u2019s being split out into its own app.<\/p>\n<p>The Instants app lets you log in with your Instagram account and opens straight to the camera. You can send those moments to your friends and, after 24 hours, the photos disappear.<\/p>\n<p>Instagram explains:<\/p>\n<p>\tAdvertisement &#8211; scroll for more content<\/p>\n<p>Introducing Instants, an app from Instagram. Share disappearing photos with friends. Connect with your favorite people over life\u2019s little moments.<\/p>\n<p>Real life, real quick<\/p>\n<p>Get straight to the camera to share with friends, fast. No edits, share instantly.<\/p>\n<p>Photos disappear<\/p>\n<p>Instants can\u2019t be viewed again once they\u2019re gone, and can\u2019t be viewed after 24 hours.<\/p>\n<p>Use either app<\/p>\n<p>Share and view instants from here or on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>Anything shared from\/to Instants can also be viewed in the main Instagram app. This new experience, available both on <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.instagram.moonshot\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Android <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/nz\/app\/instants-from-instagram\/id6756442328\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">iOS <\/a>(region-dependent), is just a dedicated and quicker means of access. The whole thing feels very reminiscent of Snapchat.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" height=\"1024\" width=\"576\" data-id=\"712696\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/instagram-instants-1.webp.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-712696\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" height=\"1024\" width=\"576\" data-id=\"712695\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/instagram-instants-2.webp.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-712695\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" height=\"1024\" width=\"576\" data-id=\"712693\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/instagram-instants-3.webp.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-712693\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" height=\"1024\" width=\"576\" data-id=\"712694\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/instagram-instants-4.webp.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-712694\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>More on Instagram:<\/p>\n<p>Follow Ben:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NexusBen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Twitter\/X<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@nexusben\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Threads<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/nexusben.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bluesky<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nexusben\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/9to5google.com\" aria-label=\"Add 9to5Google as a preferred source on Google\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-dark\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/google-preferred-source-badge-dark.png\" alt=\"Add 9to5Google as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-light\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/google-preferred-source-badge-light.png\" alt=\"Add 9to5Google as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer-affiliate\">FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/about\/#affiliate\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Instagram is once again expanding its list of social apps, this time with \u201cInstants,\u201d which mimics a core&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-624384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}