We Tried The Best Instagram Viewers: Here’s what we Learned

Are you thinking of using an Instagram viewer? You’ve come to the right place.

People are pretty nervous about data privacy these days.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to see why.

Around half of all Americans say that they’ve been a victim of identity theft in the past. On top of that, scandals like Cambridge Analytica and other digital breaches have left all of us feeling extra protective of the information we share.

To try and give their customers some peace of mind, most digital companies are putting new privacy standards in place. For instance, on the world’s biggest image-based social media app, Instagram, you can choose whether you want your content to be public, or private.

From a consumer perspective, the option to “go private” has obvious benefits. It ensures that you only show your photos, videos, and IG Stories to the people who you want to see them.

Unfortunately, there are still some issues with the privacy available on Instagram.

For instance, you can’t view someone’s Stories without them seeing you in their feed.

What’s an Insta-stalker to do?

Why View Instagram Anonymously?

There are plenty of reasons why you might want to view Instagram anonymously.

If you’re an everyday user, then you might be desperate to see the latest pictures posted by your crush, without letting them know how much you’re into them. If you’re a business, you might want to view the Instagram profile of a potential employee and check that they’re not posting anything that could get you and your brand into trouble.

Some companies even turn to Instagram viewers to help them do market research or gather information about influencers they’re planning on working with through other social media sites.

Plenty of brands and business leaders prefer to do their market research anonymously before they start a relationship with a partner or influencer. Unfortunately, updates to the Stories feature on Instagram means that it’s hard to check out user content without leaving a trace these days.

Why is Anonymous Instagramming so Hard?

If you want to find out information about someone on Instagram, you’ve got to check out their Stories.

Stories deliver some of the most popular content on the platform today. Not only are they engaging because of the ability to add graphics, gifs, video, and slideshows, but they’re also raw and authentic. People know that their Stories will be deleted within 24 hours, which means that they can be more raw than your typical feed photos.

Unfortunately for people who want to check out influencers and brands in stealth-mode, Stories is also the easiest way for users to check who’s been on their Instagram profile.

All you need to do to see who is looking at your Stories is swipe up on the content, click on the eyeball icon, and you’ll see a list of people viewing your account.

So, how do you view Stories without being so obvious?

That’s where Instagram viewers come in.

Profile viewers are software tools designed to help you view Instagram profiles easily, without even logging into your Instagram account. 

So, how do they work?

The Top Instagram Viewers and How They Work

Some people assume that Instagram viewers are tools intended to help people view “private” Instagram account information under the radar. That’s not true.

You can’t view anyone’s content on Instagram without their permission – no matter what tools you’re using. Any applications that tell you that they can give you access to private Instagram accounts are scamming you.

Still, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use Instagram viewers to improve your stealth Instagram game.

By testing out some of the top tools that allow you to view Instagram profiles without logging into your account, we learned a few things:

First, these tools appear to work through the Instagram API. The API or “Application Programming Interface” allows programmers to build separate applications that customers can use to view tags, pictures, comments, likes and other information taken from Instagram.

Secondly, while the apps don’t necessarily show you private information, they may help you to find details that you couldn’t track down on your own.

Finally, Instagram viewers also mean that you can watch people’s stories and collect information without them knowing you’ve been hanging around.

How to Use an Instagram Viewer

Instagram viewers like IGStories.app, Piknu.com, and Insta-stalker.com work by pulling information from Instagram into a single searchable database for their users.

They work like this:

1.      Piknu.com

Piknu is an Instagram Viewer which you can access on the web, or through your smartphone. Using the web-based device, we entered the username @Oreo, into the search bar to see what Piknu would bring up. As you can see: We got a bunch of accounts connected to the word Oreo:

Clicking on the @Oreo official profile took us to the Oreo page, where you can see all of the latest content from the brand, just like it would appear on your smartphone app. It’s a helpful tool if you want to see all the features of an Instagram post on a smartphone, through your desktop, without logging into your Instagram profile.

You can simply click on the Stories that you want to view and see them on your browser without anyone knowing you’ve ever been there. It’s sneaky but effective.

2.      Insta-Stalker.com

Insta-stalker.com is another popular Instagram viewer that companies and individuals use to check out Instagram accounts. According to the website’s homepage, you can “stalk” user profiles, and view stories.

Insta-Stalker also has the helpful feature of helping you find popular Instagram users in specific niches. This could be excellent for companies who need to find influencers to work with on their next campaign.

You can click through to the list of the top popular users on Instagram right now, and check out how many followers they have, and what they’re ranking for.

If you’re looking for a tool that allows you to view Instagram profiles, and all their comments or likes on your desktop, without logging into your Instagram profile, then you shouldn’t have a problem with Insta-Stalker.

All you need to do is search for the person who’s profile you want to view, and you can click through their content at your leisure. You won’t be seen, and you’ll be able to see all of their material – as long as their account is public.

3.      IG-Stories.app

Probably the best tool for both researching your Instagram influencers, and downloading their content for UGC purposes, the IG-Stories.app comes from Upleap.com.

This simple but effective tool is an excellent way to access Instagram Stories without leaving a trace. Using the Instagram API as we mentioned above, the service allows you to see which stories your favorite influencers or IG users have posted recently.

You can even download them onto your computer, which is helpful if you’re thinking of asking for permission to #Regram content later.

Simply type the name of the account you want to see into the search bar, and IGStories.app will pull up all of their latest stories which you can view in a new tab, without even logging into your Instagram profile:

You can even get money off an Upleap subscription if you want an expert to manage your Instagram growth for you when you’re done using IG-Stories.app.

4.      Websta

Websta is a handy Instagram viewer and social media marketing tool that’s evolved dramatically over the years. Otherwise known as “Webstagram,” this service allows you to view Instagram anonymously, check out user stories without logging in, and even track some of the most popular hashtags on Instagram.

The great thing about Websta is that it can help you upgrade your Instagram content in several different ways. First, you can check out what your competitors are doing in their Stories, without letting them know you’ve been lurking around.

Secondly, you can see who some of the most popular users on Instagram are today and track down potential influencers that might be good for your brand. Websta also comes with access to analytical options if you opt for the “paid” version. These insights will help you to build on what you know from your Instagram Business account and develop more compelling material for your audience.

5.      Picodash

Finally, Picodash is a helpful Instagram viewer that allows you to browse through content posted by influencers, competitors, and people you’ve never even met. If you’re looking for a little inspiration, or you want to do some market inspiration without being noticed, Picodash can help with that.

When you’re just searching for inspirational content, you can use this web-viewer to filter through content based on things like #hashtag use, location, like numbers, and even the date or time. This extra filtering option is really useful when you’re trying to gather inspiration without being identified as an Insta-Stalker.

Additionally, Picodash also allows you to download posts and stories onto your PC from the influencers that you want to work with, so it’s much easier to repost.

There’s also plenty of analytics available too – if you’re willing to pay for the service. Picodash converts in-depth information into handy spreadsheets that you can use to filter for influencers, check out your top-ranking posts and more.

What if You want to View Content on a Private Account?

Unfortunately, as we mentioned above, there’s currently no way for you to access content on a private Instagram account without the user’s permission.

When you’re looking at tools that help you to view Instagram profiles anonymously, make sure that you stay away from any company that claims they’ll be able to give you an inside view into private content. These tools would violate privacy laws and go against the terms and conditions of Instagram.

Not only that, but most apps that say they can let you view “private” profiles will also ask for personal data from you before giving you any information. This could increase your chances of being subject to phishing or scamming online.

If you want to view information on a private account, your only option is to send a follow request to the person you want to reach. You can’t force them to accept you, of course, but you can improve your chances by being courteous and polite in your request.

If you want to request access anonymously, then you can always try creating a fake account too – although this is a bit of an ethical grey area.

Another option for people who want to view details about an Instagram user that has their account set to private is to do some online research. You can search for a person’s username on Google and check out whether they have any public accounts elsewhere. You might find that they’re more comfortable sharing content on other channels.

Learning How to View Instagram Profiles, without Logging In

Creeping on people through Instagram viewers might not seem like the most ethical way to gather information, but you’re not breaking any rules.

It’s not against the Instagram terms of service to view accounts through viewers that access the Instagram API, so you shouldn’t worry about getting into any trouble – even if you feel a little guilty.

The good news is that knowing how to use an Instagram viewer will make it easier for you to check out content posted by users, competitors, and influencers, without letting them know that you’ve been on your page.

On the other hand, if you’re just an individual user, an app that allows you to view Instagram anonymously also means that you can check out what your ex is doing without embarrassing yourself.

Although the new update to the Instagram Stories app is excellent for companies that want to track what kind of views they’re getting on their material, it’s not as good for people who don’t want others to know how they spend their time on Instagram.

That’s why it’s so useful to find the right Instagram viewer.

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