Instagram Hopes to Shock Snapchat with New Messaging App Bolt

Last month, Facebook launched Slingshot. Now Instagram is unveiling Bolt, the latest attempt to unseat Snapchat as the top ephemeral messaging app. It lets users send photos and video to friends with a single tap. Once that person views it, poof, it’s gone. Bolt even allows people to add large text over photos and videos, just like Snapchat does. While it's not clear how many users Snapchat has, it will be hard for Bolt to catch up: estimates put the number of Snapchat users at anywhere from 50 million to 70 million. This is not the first time Instagram — which is owned by Facebook — has tried to emulate Snapchat's success. In December, it released Instagram Direct. That obviously did not dethrone Snapchat, so now it has released Bolt, available for iOS and Android in New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa. Instagram said that Bolt could become available in other markets "soon."

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For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

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--- Keith Wagstaff