I love to travel. Whenever I get time, I put my shoes on, have some cereal for breakfast, and with some personal hygiene products, I go out to explore the cities of Canada. While travelling on a bus or train, I often find myself seeing reels or stories from social media. One day, it suddenly struck my mind to see if I could really watch Instagram stories without letting the person who gave the story know.
Instagram does not allow you to hide yourself when you see someoneโs story. Itโs against their policy and terms of service. So, an official built-in story viewer possibly doesnโt exist and wonโt be in the future, too. But donโt worry, I have found some ways where you can watch the Instagram stories anonymously.
1. Using Another Instagram Account
The most legal and ethical way to keep your identity unrevealed is to create another Instagram account that does not identify your real name and has a different Instagram username. This enables you to not only view Instagram stories anonymously without letting the user make the posts known but also gives another substitute to analyze Instagram profiles that one might not try accessing using their personal account. I am sure many of have already tried this. What, say?
This can be one of the most secure ways, but it has a demerit when it comes to private accounts as the viewer must follow the account. And, this would only be possible if the account holder accepts the request from the anonymous account. Donโt worry Iโll tell you some other methods if this one does not work for you.
2. Using Online Websites to View Instagram Stories Anonymously
All you need to do here is type the username of the account holder whose story you wish to see. It will take approximately 8-10 seconds to load up and show the results relating to the search. Finally, select the exact account and wait for the site to load the profile. You will now be able to view the stories and the posts they make. However, a few websites might create a dialogue box stating that the account is private and, hence, wonโt make the stories and posts visible, which might be an issue.
The best part about these sites is that they do not ask for any Instagram username for anyone who wants to view stories or the videos they post. One thing that you need to be careful is that these websites are not often reliable and secure. They should be used with utmost precautions and, of course, at your own risk. Also, no costs are involved, so they are free for you to use.
Download a Story View App
If you are planning to watch IG stories every day, you can even download an app for the same, keeping in consideration again that these might not be safe for the device you are downloading them on. All that needs to be done is to type Instagram Story downloader on the Play Store and download the app.
Here are a few websites that let you watch stories on Instagram and have photos and videos anonymously. But let me warn you, they might be an unsafe choice, so moving forward has to be your own decision and choice.
3. Using Airplane Mode
So, while travelling on a flight, when I put my phone on aeroplane mode and started watching Instagram stories, I found out that the user was not able to see that I actually watched their Instagram stories. Isnโt this fun? You might be unaware that you can view Instagram stories anonymously using this basic feature on your mobile gadget. When you open Instagram, it automatically downloads a few stories, and then if you turn on the aeroplane mode and go back to the app again, you will be able to view Instagram stories anonymously. Sounds interesting right?
However, I faced some difficulties trying this method. A drawback here is that you cannot choose the stories that Instagram automatically downloads for your account because the stories that are first in the line will download, and to download the others, you would need the internet, for which, again, you will have to turn off the aeroplane mode. This is one of the riskiest ways of watching Instagram stories anonymously since it fails if someone wants to view numerous stories. Moreover, there is a high risk of your identity being revealed.
Therefore, using any of the three methods stated above might help you resolve the issue for the time being. But I would recommend you not to use any online sites for this as it may leak your valuable info. So, you can simply make another account with a different name to view Instagram stories anonymously. This lets the user view the story, surf the profile, and keep his identity unexposed.
Last Updated on April 12, 2024 by Pragya Chakrapani
