Introducing Instants: A New Way to Share in the Moment

Today, we're introducing Instants, a new way to share photos in the moment with your Close Friends or mutual followers with just a tap. Photos you share on Instants disappear after they've been viewed and can't be viewed after 24 hours. You also can't edit your instants before sharing, so you can share authentic moments as they're happening.

How It Works

You can capture an instant by tapping the mini pile of photos at the bottom right corner of your Instagram inbox or by opening the Instants app. From there, snap a photo in real time - no uploads from your phone's photo gallery. You can also add a caption to your photo, but can't make any further edits to it.

Next, choose who you want to share your Instant with - your Close Friends or followers that you follow back. Recipients can react with emojis, reply, and send instants back to you. The instants you share will show up as a pile of photos in your friends' inboxes and disappear once they're viewed.

The Instants app, rolling out in select countries on iOS and Android, gives you immediate access to the Instants camera - just log in with your Instagram account to get started. Instants work the same across both apps, meaning instants shared via the app will reach your friends seeing them on Instagram, too.

Features to Make Sharing With Friends Simple

• Archive: Your shared instants are saved in a private archive that only you can see for up to one year, which you can access on the top right corner of Instants.
• Recap to Stories: Compile instants from your archive into a recap and post it to Instagram Stories for your followers. Just tap Create recap in your archive to get started.
• No screenshots: Friends can't screenshot or record instants you share.
• Undo: Accidentally sent an instant? Quickly take it back before friends see it by tapping the undo button. You can also delete an instant from your archive to unsend it to friends who haven't opened it yet.
• Snooze: Hold down the pile of instants in your inbox and swipe right to temporarily stop receiving them. Bring back instants by holding down the same spot and swiping left.

Built-In Safety and Privacy

All of the safety and privacy protections on Instagram apply to Instants. Instagram's in-app controls like Block, Mute, and Restrict work on Instants, too, so you can limit receiving instants from specific friends. Your instants can only be seen by those you choose to share them with - your close friends or followers you follow back.

For teens, Instants is automatically integrated with Teen Accounts and Family Center. There is no separate setup - if a parent already supervises their teen on Instagram, that supervision automatically extends to Instants. Notable protections include:

• Shared time limits: Time spent on Instants counts toward a teen's daily time limit on Instagram.
• Sleep Mode: Notifications are muted and access is restricted by default between 10PM and 7AM for teens.
• Safety tools: Instagram's safety features - including block, mute, restrict, content filters, and reporting - all work on Instants.
• Parent notification : Parents of supervised teens will be notified the first time their teen downloads the Instants app.

Instants is available globally starting today as a feature on Instagram and as an app in select countries.