Instagram is an app that just about every student uses every day, whether it’s viewing friends’ photos, posting something from your weekend, or looking at professional posters to see what’s trendy.

On Oct. 22, Instagram released an app called Boomerang to add a small animation effect to photos. Each post made by Boomerang is a four second video that plays backwards and forwards to create the implied “boomerang” effect.

Using the app is simple. You open the app, take a short video, and once it’s finished, you can review and post it to either Instagram, Facebook or save it to your device. It’s quick and simple and nothing that anyone should be making a big deal out of.

Boomerang is the third of Instagram’s external app offerings. Instagram released Hyperlapse in August 2014 and Layout, an app that lets you build collages for Instagram, in March 2015.

Just like the other two apps, the function is simple and meant to enhance your profile.

Beyond the banner ad during release week, Instagram hasn’t been ostentatious about the app’s release. There’s no watermark on the bottom or anything that denotes that the product was made with Boomerang, which I really like because it makes the product look pure.

Boomerang has just one problem: it is essentially the same thing as Phhhoto, another app that makes moving photos, except it posts to its own platform with the option to save or post to Instagram.

Boomerang clearly copies Phhhoto’s style and as an extension of Instagram, clearly gives them an edge over Phhhoto. Phhhoto users now have a legitimate reason to stop using the smaller and less popular platform and use Boomerang instead.

This isn’t the first time Instagram has added features that take functionality from other platforms. In June 2013, Instagram added video support to compete with Vine, which launched in January 2013, and Snapchat, which added video in December of 2012.

Despite these additions being almost blatant stealing, they do give Instagram an edge over most other social media. These features help users express themselves in more ways and make their whole user experience much more seamless and enjoyable. Boomerang is no exception to this trend.

What you can get out of Boomerang is simple. Some people think you can’t do a whole lot with four seconds, but it can be really fun to use.

One of my favorite videos was a simple shot from a high building, where a seagull just happened to be flying in the frame.

With Boomerang, you see the bird flying back and forth. It’s nothing too special, but the effect added more life to the post.

Boomerang is a lot of fun to use and a great addition to Instagram’s feature set. It’s simple to use, simple to apply, and looks beautiful.

Boomerang highlights the best developments of Instagram’s interface. It’s only been out for half a month at the time of publishing, but I can see people making more interesting posts with it.