Instagram is internally testing a new Snapchat rival app

• Instagram is building an internal prototype of a new app that's similar to Snapchat.
• The disappearing photos app is being called "Instants."
• A Meta spokesperson confirmed the internal prototype is not testing externally.

Hey Meta, are you also nostalgic for 2016?

As social media users wax poetic and share throwbacks about the social media heyday of 2016, it seems Meta wants to revive a piece of it.

The tech giant is working on an internal prototype of a new stand-alone app for sending disappearing photos, a spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

Yes, that does sound like Snapchat's original premise.

According to a screenshot shared by mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi, who reverse engineers Instagram to reveal prototypes, the app is being called "Instants."

"Share disappearing photos with friends," Paluzzi's rendering says.

The Meta spokesperson said the stand-alone Instants app is not testing externally.

Instagram has also been testing a feature called Instants, which was previously called "Shots," with some users of its main app. It has been a limited test available to "some countries globally," the Meta spokesperson said.

The Instants feature lets Instagram users quickly send disappearing photos in their direct-messaging inbox. Once the photo message is opened, the photo disappears and expires 24 hours after sending, per Instagram's Help Center.

Instants can only be "sent to followers you follow back," the same help page says. The photos cannot be edited.

This isn't the first time Instagram has rolled out disappearing messaging tools.

In 2016, Instagram launched tools for disappearing text and photos in its DM product. The platform also introduced "Vanish Mode" in 2020, which lets users turn on disappearing messages by swiping up in the DM thread. These features are still live within the Instagram app, but Instants would be a new way to send disappearing content to friends.

A new app from Meta shouldn't come as a surprise. It's rolled out several stand-alone apps in the company's recent history, including Threads, Edits, and Meta AI.

More friends, more Snapchat

Instagram has been doubling down on ways for friends — which Meta defines as people who mutually follow each other — to interact on the app.

Influencers, the rise of the creator economy, and advertising have turned Instagram into more of an entertainment platform than a social media platform. Now, people post less frequently to the main feed or stories, and instead, share content directly in DMs with their friends and family.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri told Business Insider last year that there's been a "paradigm shift" toward more private sharing (like DMs) on the platform.

Meta seems to be looking at Snapchat as a frequent source of inspiration for how people communicate with their closest friends.

Disappearing messages aren't the only way Instagram has imitated Snapchat. Stories, famously, was a clone of Snapchat's highly successful product. Last year, Instagram also launched a social map feature similar to Snapchat's Snap Map.

There's a reason Snap CEO Evan Spiegel keeps "VP Product @ Meta" in his LinkedIn bio.