Table of Contents:
As you may probably know, it’s just not possible to view Instagram stories anonymously within the network. Every time you watch a story, the account holder can see that you’ve viewed their content. But what if you don’t want to use your main account to view some people’s Stories, because, for some reason, it’s important for you to stay “in the shadows”? For this purpose, there are two options: use special services or register a fake Instagram account.
Related: “Risks of Giving Out Your Phone Number for Online Registration“
In this article, we’ll explore how to view users’ stories without letting people know, and also learn how to create multiple Instagram accounts effortlessly with virtual phone numbers from SMS-man.
Anonymity on Instagram
How’s it going with the matter of anonymity on Instagram? It’s not easy to gain due to the platform’s policies. This social media was originally designed as a publicly accessible platform for sharing photo and video diary posts with others. And the developers deliberately didn’t provide users with the anonymity function: to encourage them to be more open with each other.
Although, at the same time, the platform enables setting privacy settings. At any time, users can close their accounts from the public eye and decide who they want to give access to it.
With anonymity, it is not that clear. On one hand, it’s possible to create an anonymous Instagram account to keep tabs on other users — and it can be relatively harmless, as long as it’s kept in check. Conversely, anonymity in social networks is a catalyst for increased aggression as it grants individuals carte blanche to behave without fear of consequences. Therefore, more and more popular global social networks and applications are trying to make the conditions for users as open and transparent as possible. Instagram follows this policy as well.
Nevertheless, a huge number of users choose to view Instagram anonymously for very different reasons. While some individuals may prefer anonymity based on their beliefs and values, others leverage social media platforms for business purposes such as competitive research, gathering relevant data, and more.
To ensure that the new regulations don’t impede your Instagram experience, there are numerous ways to maintain your anonymity on the platform, including viewing Stories. Let’s discuss them further in the article.
Ways to view Instagram Stories anonymously
There are many services to view Instagram Stories anonymously, but they usually don’t live long. Since the social network actively blocks any external software working on its territory.
Previously, individuals had the ability to use specialized applications to access Instagram without phone number. However, current regulations now require identity authentication in order to gain access. Besides, AppStore and Google Play act in the best interest of Instagram and delete such apps. What options for viewing Instagram anonymously are available in May 2023?
Web services
There are many platforms with the very similar functionality that allow you to download any user’s Instagram Stories, Posts, and Highlights directly to your PC or mobile phone — without signing up. The most popular are AnonStories Online, InstaNavigation, InstaStories Viewer, StoriesIG.
Browser extensions (for Google Chrome and Opera)
HiddenGram and Ghostify is that free extension for your browser that you can use to anonymously check your friends’ Histories when you are logged in. When the extension is enabled, no one will know that you have viewed their history. It doesn’t access your friends’ stories unless they’ve accepted you as their subscriber.
Telegram-bots that don’t require an authorized account
In recent years, this solution has gained popularity among English-speaking Internet users mainly due to its convenience. With it, you can view any content on Instagram without phone number. It offers a limited number of free downloads, and after that you will have to pay for the subscription. For example, AnonymStories Bot allows downloading stories, posts, the profile picture, and the featured stories. 20 downloads are free of charge.
Fake Instagram account
This solution seems to be the most effective if you’re going to create a fake Instagram account. Thanks to special software on the provider’s side, virtual phones can receive SMS like regular SIM-cards, but without being tied to any physical device or location. Let’s see how you can get a virtual phone number to use Instagram anonymously.
How to get a virtual phone number to view Instagram Stories anonymously
With the SMS-man provider, you can both acquire a virtual phone number from $0.05 or rent it for up to 90 days to pass authentication procedures in various online services and apps.
Here are step-by-step instructions on how you can do it:
- Register at sms-man.com with your email or social media account;
- Top up your account balance using any convenient method;
- Open main page then choose country and service you want to buy virtual number for – in our case it’s “Instagram”;
- Click on “Buy” to confirm your order and add virtual phone number to your shopping cart;
- Copy the purchased number from the “History” section and apply it to register your account;
- To get the verification code, go back to your SMS-man profile and click ” Receive SMS” next to the purchased number;
- Use the numeric code to complete your anonymous Instagram account registration.