Messaging platform Signal is testing a new feature that borrows heavily from Instagram and other services. Now, people can share videos, images, and text messages that vanish after 24 hours.

Signal says that the new feature is ready for beta testing and will include content that is end-to-end encrypted, "giving you a new way to communicate on Signal without compromising privacy." The announcement came via a post to the Signal forums and notes that people can disable stories entirely if they aren't interested in them. The switch not only means people can't create stories of their own, but also prevents them from being bombarded by stories created by others, too.

Notably, the new stories feature is only available to people who are on the beta version of Signal so don't panic if you don't see any yourself or your friends aren't seeing your latest story creations. We can expect the feature to be released to everyone in due course, assuming the beta test is a success.

Once stories do arrive, people will be able to share stories with all of their friends or specific groups as they sit fit, Signal says.

Stories have become increasingly popular and are a big part of Instagram and Facebook, but the feature was originally created by Snapchat back in the day. While stories can seem similar to the videos posted to TikTok and other services, the key feature is that they are ephemeral - they disappear after set period of time, normally 24 hours. After that that, they're gone for good.