Instagram has launched a new feature that brings back the idea of photos that disappear after a short time, but this time in a simpler and faster way.
This feature is called "Instants" and is available within the main Instagram app, as well as through a new separate app of the same name.
The idea behind "Moments" is to take a photo and send it to your friends spontaneously, just like in the old days of Instagram before it became cluttered with celebrities and ads. These photos don't last forever; they disappear after your friends view them, and they can interact with them. However, Instagram keeps a copy of your photos in a private archive for a full year, and you can later turn them into a "Story" after compiling them into a summary.
Within the main app, you can access "Moments" through your direct messages, then tap the photos icon in the corner. There are no tools to edit photos or add filters, and you can't upload old photos from your phone's gallery. All you can do is add a text caption below the photo.
Before sending the photo, you choose who you want to share it with: "Close Friends" or "Mutual Followers." Even better, there's an "Undo" button that appears briefly, allowing you to cancel sending the photo before your friends see it.
If your friends are sending you "Moments" too often or annoyingly, you can temporarily hide them. Just tap and hold the "Moments" icon in your message box, then swipe right. When you want to see them again, swipe left.
Instagram indirectly acknowledges that its main app has become cumbersome and complicated. It says users want a faster way to access the camera, so it is currently testing this separate app in some countries on iPhones and Android phones.
To protect users, Instagram applies its existing privacy and security settings, including blocking and muting users. Parental control accounts for teens also benefit from automatic parental controls on Moments, such as blocking the app at night or setting time limits, and parents will be notified if their teen attempts to download the separate app.
This is not the first time that Instagram has tried to imitate other applications. It previously succeeded in imitating Snapchat through the "Stories" feature, and four years ago it tried to imitate the BeReal application with the "Candid Stories" feature, and now it is returning again with the idea of "Moments" which is very similar to the old Bolt application that it launched in 2014, which aimed to quickly share photos with friends.
