Instagram once endeavored to surpass Snapchat by transforming your best friends’ faces into a quick access camera trigger on its standalone app, Bolt. The app was initially available only in Singapore, South Africa, and New Zealand, chosen due to their high consumption of Instagram and English-speaking population – making them prime testing grounds for the platform.
Bolt promised its users a swift and straightforward means to send individual video and photo messages. However, the app was geographically restricted to the three aforementioned countries at its debut. Instagram’s strategy was to perfect the application, eliminating bugs and errors, before launching it globally, including in the United States.
Bolt offered a unique ‘fast-first’ functionality that Instagram predicted would secure it a spot in the crowded photo and video sharing landscape. The app found itself in competition with the likes of Snapchat, Taptalk, Mirage, Twitter, Vine, and a number of other international messaging apps. Notwithstanding the stiff competition, Instagram remained optimistic regarding Bolt’s unique attributes.
The app operated by allowing users to register using their phone number and choose contacts to add to a favorites list. These chosen contacts appeared at the bottom of the screen, and merely tapping on an image would instantly forward a photo or video to them, a feature Instagram touted as a core selling point for Bolt.
An additional novel feature was the ‘shake to unsend’ option. If enabled, shaking the device shortly after sending a Bolt retracts it, and also offers the option to save the image or video to the phone’s gallery. Although Bolt lacked a report function, Instagram reassured users by stating that they were consistently monitoring for spam.
While the prospect of a ‘fast-first’ app initially seemed appealing, its long-term impact and success remained uncertain. The endurance of this innovative approach to quick photo sharing feature in a saturated market filled with alternative photo-sharing apps was up in the air, with its future dependent on time’s verdict.
Updated in 2025 to align with recent developments.
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Paul Femi Balo is the founder and publisher of TechBooky. He covers artificial intelligence, African technology, digital infrastructure, enterprise technology and the global digital economy.
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