It sure looks like Instagram is about to copy Pinterest's collections

Instagram is borrowing yet another idea from Pinterest.

According to Techcrunch, code hidden inside the Instagram for Android app hints that the Facebook-owned photo sharing service is working on a public “Collections” feature. With this feature, users can organize their favorite, saved Instagram posts into groups and share them with others.

Collection owners would even be able to even grant permission for other Instagram users to contribute to their public collections.

The feature was first discovered by Jane Manchun Wong, a software developer who's gained a following for reverse engineering apps in order to find new features that are being planned.

When Instagram decides to release its public creations option, users would simply have to go into the “Edit Collections” menu and toggle on “Make Creations Public.” Assuming nothing changes in the reverse engineered code, of course.

Instagram first launched its feature allowing users to save their favorite posts in Dec. 2016. Shortly after, in April 2017, the company rolled out private collections. By simply holding down the bookmark icon used to save a post, users could now arrange these saved items into categories. However, the current version of this content curation feature was for the collection owner’s eyes only.

The timing of this discovery is especially interesting. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Pinterest has submitted the necessary paperwork to file for an IPO. As TechCrunch points out, Instagram launched another feature, Instagram Stories, just months before Snapchat went public. Facebook’s photo app effectively killed Snapchat’s growth by stealing its premiere feature. Snapchat hasn’t recovered since.

By taking one of Pinterest’s defining features, Instagram's much larger user base could basically find that they don’t need to use a different service to get their collections fix.