Instagram’s New Snapchat Clone Makes It All Too Easy to Send Disappearing Images to All Your Friends.
Instagram has a habit of borrowing features from other apps and thus making them popular. When Snapchat launched Stories, Instagram did the same, and perhaps even better. When TikTok took over the world, Instagram launched “Reels” and managed to hook millions (if not billions) of users on short videos. Now, Instagram has set its sights on Snapchat again, “inspired” by the app’s most iconic feature: disappearing photos.
Instagram’s Instant Messaging feature is a bit dangerous.
On Wednesday, Instagram announced Instants, which the company calls “a new way to share moments.” Instants are photos you can share with friends that disappear after you open them. (Sound familiar.) While your friends won’t be able to save them, they can react to and reply to your Instants, both of which will be sent to you via direct messages. However, any Instants you share don’t disappear from your account: Instagram says your photos remain archived for up to one year, and you can re-share them to your Stories if you wish.
Of course, there’s nothing revolutionary about this. Anyone who’s used Snapchat is familiar with the process. However, what’s unique about Instagram’s approach is the way you send Instant Messages. Instead of selecting specific contacts and groups to send these ephemeral images to, Instagram offers two options: Close Friends (a list of Instagram users you’ve tagged as such) and Mutual Followers (followers you follow back). The latter option is simply called “Friends” in the app and is the first option Instagram offers when inviting you to send an Instant Message—meaning it’s very easy to accidentally send an Instant Message to literally everyone you follow who also follows you back.
If you’re an active and social Instagram user, this might not seem like such a bad option. But I think most of us don’t necessarily want to bombard every single one of our followers with random Snapchat-style photos. (I certainly don’t.) So, if you’re going to try Instants, make sure you know exactly where your photos will be sent before you hit the “Send” button.
How to try Instants on Instagram
Instant messages (Instants) are stored in your Direct Messages, but in an awkward location. You’ll find them in the bottom right corner, in a tab that opens on the screen. Tapping it will show you all the instant messages sent to you. If you don’t have any, you’ll simply launch the Instant Messages camera interface. The most important element is at the bottom: by default, you’ll see “Friends,” which means your instant message will be sent to all your mutual contacts. If you want to switch to “Close Friends,” tap “Friends” and then “Close Friends.” Instagram gives you the option to quickly edit your “Close Friends” list if you want to make any changes, including clearing the entire list, but note that any changes take effect immediately. I accidentally cleared my entire “Close Friends” list because I thought I was deselecting suggested contacts.
The process of taking a photo is fairly simple, but it’s also a bit tricky: you can choose whether to use the front or rear camera, as well as turn the flash on or off. If you want to add a caption, tap the viewfinder to bring up the keyboard. (Captions are added before you take the photo.) There’s also an “Archive” section in the top right corner where you can view previous photos you’ve taken. However, after you take a photo, you only have a few seconds to tap “Undo” before it’s sent to your chosen friends, so be careful. If you prefer to use the Snaps feature separately, Instagram has developed a dedicated app for this feature for iOS and Android .
How to close Instants
There’s no way to get rid of Instagram Instants, but you can “snooze” them. When you return to your direct messages, you can swipe the Instants interface to slide it to the side of the screen. It will disappear, but you can bring it back at any time by swiping left from the edge of the screen.