Instagram launched a new photo-sharing format called Instants on Wednesday, May 14, 2026, rolling it out globally as a feature within the existing Instagram app. A standalone Instants app is also in testing in select countries.
Instants are ephemeral, unedited photos that can only be shared with a user’s close friends or mutual followers. Once a recipient views an Instant, it disappears. All Instants also expire after 24 hours and cannot be captured via screenshot or screen recording. However, senders retain their own Instants in a private archive for up to one year and can reshare them to Instagram Stories as a recap. Users can also delete an Instant immediately after posting or remove it from their archive later.
To access the feature inside Instagram, users navigate to their DM inbox and tap an icon or stack of photos in the bottom-right corner. Recipients can respond with emoji reactions or a DM reply before the photo disappears on their end.
The separate Instants app, which appeared in Italy and Spain in April 2026, offers direct camera access and requires only an existing Instagram account. Instagram says photos shared through the standalone app are visible to friends on Instagram, and vice versa.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri said internal testing showed people use Instants to share “much more casual, much more authentic moments” from their day. Mosseri also noted that many users have stopped posting regularly to their profile grids, suggesting the format addresses a gap in how people share personal moments on the platform.
The format draws comparisons to features offered by Snapchat and BeReal, both of which built their identities around ephemeral or unfiltered photo sharing.
Source: The Verge