Instagram's 'worst feature' is a bid to compete with Snapchat — users revolt over new Instants photo sharing
Instagram users are very unhappy with its latest feature.
The Meta-owned social media app has just introduced Instagram Instants — a new way to share quick, in-the-moment photos with friends, similar to other platforms like Snapchat or BeReal.
Photos disappear after they’re opened or after 24 hours, making the experience feel more casual, authentic, and pressure-free. With no editing tools before posting, Instants encourages you to capture and share real-life moments as they happen.
To send or scroll through the photos your friends have posted, you'll need to navigate to the message section of the app. From there, you'll find a new tab in the bottom right corner with a preview of a cluster of images.
You can send emojis to react to the posts or reply to them with a direct message.
However, users haven't given glowing reviews, with many of them saying they've accidentally posted photos or have deleted their app altogether.
One user wrote on X: "Tried to use the new ig instant feature and accidentally posted a picture of me on the toilet."
tried to use the new ig instant feature and accidentally posted a picture of me on the toilet pic.twitter.com/hLIwjGOvnB
— টaara | WHY CANT I TWEET (@taarafilms) May 14, 2026
When you take a photo using the new feature, it uploads automatically. This has caused many users to upload posts unintentionally.
An Instagram user wrote: "Took some abysmal photos of myself [because] I didn't know they automatically uploaded and a friend told me she saw them, so mortified."
from Instagram
from Instagram
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If you're feeling similarly about this latest feature, don't fret. You can take the following steps to have it toggled off:
- Open Instagram
- Go to your profile
- Tap the three-line menu in the top-right corner
- Select Settings and activity
- Tap Content preferences
- Turn on Hide Instants in Inbox
This removes Instants from your inbox so you won’t see or receive them. You can also temporarily hide them by pressing and holding the Instants stack in your DMs and swiping right.
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This isn't the only new shakeup Instagram has experienced lately.
End-to-end encryption has been ditched from the one-on-one messaging service built into Instagram from today (May 8, 2026) in one of the biggest shake-ups to its social media service in years.
The decision to remove encryption — allowing parent company Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Facebook, to see what is being sent via its messaging service — was quietly announced back in March via the online Help Pages resources for Instagram. However, there was no formal announcement about the U-turn on encryption.
With end-to-end encryption gone, Meta will be able to search, scan, or read any text messages, pictures, videos, or voice notes sent via its messaging service. Starting from today, Instagram users will only be shielded by standard encryption, which does not prevent Meta from accessing their private messages.
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