A tour of Bolt, Instagram's new one-tap messaging app

FULLSCREEN

The first thing you see when you open Bolt.

Bolt makes you create an account with a phone number, like Snapchat. No Instagram or Facebook account required.

You can find friends to add from numbers in your Contacts list, which is also like Snapchat.

The app's design is very light and playful.

Settings are barebones.

When you add more friends, a list of four contacts you message the most is displayed at the bottom.

You can add text messages.

Tap once on a profile icon to send a photo. Tap and hold to send video.

Instagram soft-launched Bolt this week, its new app to take on Snapchat. The app is only available in Singapore, New Zealand, and South Africa right now while Instagram squashes bugs and gets it ready for everyone else in the world.

That doesn’t mean you can’t see what Bolt is like now. Cult of Mac reader @ravirajim sent us a bunch of screenshots of Bolt in action, which you can view above. We’ll let you know when Bolt ships to the App Store in the U.S. and elsewhere.

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