Instagram (commonly known as Insta or IG) has only been around for 10 years, but is already one of the most-used social media platforms today. Instagram started off as a social media platform for the purpose of instant photo sharing, hence its name.
Before going into the best Instragram spying apps that allow you to access and read direct messages without having physical access to the target phone, let’s discuss some of the reasons you would like to spy on someone’s Instagram account.
Reasons to Spy on Someone’s Insta
Naturally, having such a great following worldwide – amongst both Android device users as well as iOS device users, comes at a price. Among the common concerns (not just on Instagram but across all social media apps available on the internet) are privacy violation issues, malware, viruses, online sex offenders and sexual abuse on the rise, cyberbullying, scammers, hacking and the likes.
As the world advances in technology, so do children. Smartphones are no longer just for parents; it is not at all uncommon for kids and teens these days to have their own smartphone or tablet without any idea or knowledge of their potential dangers.
Because of this phenomenon, kids and teens now have access to practically anything on the net. They have access to online videos, any website or web browser, social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Line, Skype, Viber, Tinder, and basically whatever information they want. Not exactly ideal for child protection.
While the internet has many great functionalities, benefits and uses. In example for school work; research; finding answers to questions; life-hacks and guides; opportunities to display and view our work on sites; finding good articles; and increasing in knowledge.
However, the truth of the matter is that there are a lot of haters and violator out there who take advantage of this fact and use it to the fullest by tracking unsuspecting youngsters on social sites. The ones who fall victim to the activities of scammers and sexual predators are the children who have no awareness of danger, and this occurs without the knowledge of a lot of parents and adults.
As such, parents around the world are becoming increasingly keen to use and find the one best Instagram spy apps and spy apps in general as a solution for their needs. They want a tracking feature in order to monitor and track their child or teen’s whereabouts, as well as site activities on the phone and on the internet since adult supervision is not always possible.
There is another group of individuals who are also increasingly keen on finding the best Instagram spy app and text messenger tracking feature – social media platforms aren’t always just a place to post photos. There are other features to keep an eye on if you’re concerned about a partner being unfaithful or texting anyone on the side.
The Truth: How to See Someone’s Direct Messages on Instagram
Despite having valid reasons for wanting to have a monitoring app or tracker for Instagram, spying on someone’s Instagram is not always easy.
To see someone’s Instagram direct messages and control their posts or activities, you either have to:
Hack their Instagram account
Hacking will work – if you know how to do it successfully. Otherwise, most online hacking tools do not guarantee any results. More often than not, the majority of individuals are unskilled in hacking and end up wasting their time and money without achieving their goal.
Furthermore, hacking does not enable actual tracking or monitoring of app activity – when successful, it only allows the hacker to view and use the hacked account, which is not what most people want.
Guess their Instagram password
If you are spying on your young kid or someone you know like the back of your palm, you might succeed in this. However, it’s an absolute hit or miss, and most of the time will render you frustrated if you do not succeed in guessing the password correctly.
On top of that, algorithms in Instagram and all apps requiring passwords these days are able to detect when wrong passwords are being entered too many times. You risk being found out before even getting a glimpse at what you are looking for.
Use Instagram spying apps or a spying software
Spy apps are essentially fool-proof, fail-proof, and come with many additional bonuses. The spying software that we recommend are apps that can be easily installed on the target phone to allow remote monitoring of all activities in the target device of the person you want to spy on.
It does require a few minutes of physical access to the target phone, but this only needs to be done once. The app subsequently remains hidden and works in stealth mode to provide updates on all social media platform activity and post, photos, SMS or text messages, direct messages, calls and call history, web history, site monitoring, GPS location tracking, and more.
We recommend to use spy apps as the best Instagram tracker method because they actually succeed in providing you the data and information you want and need – which for a parent is whether or not their kid has problems with cyberbullies or predators encountered through conversations on their phones.
In today’s reviews article, we will list a number of popular Instagram tracking and capabilities & characteristics of the Instagram spy apps available on the market.
On this list, we will recommend what we personally find to be the best Instagram spy apps after testing them out and reading thorough review articles.
The 5 Best Instagram Spy Apps – Reviewed
1. mSpy
Our favourite Instagram spy app – in fact, not just for tracker Instagram accounts, but for overall spying and monitoring on Android and iOS, is the spy app called mSpy.
Parents and employers love this spy app because they offer basically every feature you would require in a spy tool.
For Instagram tracking in particular, this spy app will enable you to see all Instagram activities including all Instagram posts and conversations, Instagram messages exchanged, screenshot taken, language used, all photos and videos shared and received, all comments made on Instagram stories through Instagram direct messages.
mSpy is an incredible Instagram tracker that will give you access to basically everything on the Instagram account, but other than Instagram monitoring, mSpy is an excellent start monitoring software that includes features such as an in-built keylogger and what is known as “that geofencing thing” which basically enables the user to designate danger areas so that they will be alerted when the target device enters that zone.
mSpy has an easy app installation process and account creation process, and is very user-friendly. Customers who have used this Instagram account spy apps report a great experience. Real time updates from all activity on the target cell phone including but not limited to WhatsApp, Snapchat and Facebook will be accessible too.
Compatibility
mSpy is compatible with all Android and iOS devices. Jailbreak and rooting for Android are not required, whereas there are separate jailbreak and non-jailbreaking versions for the iPhone Instagram tracker.
Pricing and Subscription
There are three bundles offered by mSpy, and prices differ depending on whether you use Android or iPhone, and which version of this spying app you require.
Prices start at just $29.99 per month, making this Instagram spy apps perfect for those on a budget. The cost may be up to $69.99 per month, depending on how many devices you intend to monitor and how many months you subscribe for – you have the option of 1-month, 3-months or 12-months.
2. Spyic
Spyic is also one of the best Instagram spy apps on the market. This company has a solid reputation for being user friendly on iOs devices as well as Android devices.
Any Instagram messages, direct messages, emojis and inappropriate languages, Instagram followers, mobile text, screenshots taken, pictures or videos exchanged, all media content on the target device’s Instagram accounts – basically everything to do with Instagram will be displayed on the Spyic user dashboard, along with the date and time.
Additionally, email monitoring, website searches across Google and GPS location tracking are synced and accurately updated, along with spy monitoring access to all activity on the target phone.
Parents who are worried about their teen daughter or cyberbullying issues will find this app extremely helpful, as well those who want to spy on their employees to see how they are utilizing their time during working hours.
Compatibility
The Spyic app is compatible with all Android and iOS devices. The app installation steps and process on the cell phone is quick, account creation is straightforward, and the control panel interface is simple with this Instagram tracker app.
One thing to note is that to install this spy software on the target device, an initial 5 minutes of physical access is required to set up an account and password.
Following the setup of the account, physical access to the target phone and kid s profile will no longer be necessary. All subsequent Instagram monitoring activities and data may be obtained remotely.
Pricing & Subscription
The Spyic Insta spy app prices vary depending on whether you use an Android device or iOS device.
Prices range from $33.99 to $999.99 depending on type of device and duration of subscription, which may be 1-month, 3-months or 12-months.
3. FlexiSPY
FlexiSPY is an Instagram spy app that has a spy software more in-depth than almost all other Instagram spy and monitoring apps.
On this Instagram spy apps, you will not only have access to Instagram messages and followers on the target device Instagram account as well as links and texts shared via Instagram chat, but will also be able to track all phone messages and phone activities, perform call recording, call interception, download photos, and even gain access to enable the target device microphone to record the surroundings of the target device.
You do need to take note that unlike many other Instagram spy apps, the FlexiSPY app does require you to jailbreak your iPhone or Android in order to gain access to all the app features.
This spy app is user friendly and FlexiSPY has a fantastic customer support team and tech support team that will guide you through the process of jailbreaking and rooting your device. However, some people may not be willing to jailbreak and root their mobile phone or cell phone.
If that is the case, we recommend using mSpy for people who want to spy on Instagram and have a GPS tracking, text messages tracking, call logs monitoring software that is closest to the features offered by FlexiSPY yet do not require you to jailbreak or root your device.
Of course, we still put it on this list of best Instagram spy apps with good reason.
This Instagram spy app has a few of the best features that none of the other spy apps have, namely:
– Features to intercept live phone calls
– Features to remotely enable microphone and record the live surroundings
Compatibility
FlexiSPY is compatible with iPhone and all Android phone and devices. As we mentioned, it will require jailbreaking and rooting your devices to create an account and access the features of this software though.
Price and Subscription
You have the option of the Lite, Premium or Extreme plan for both Android and iPhone. Features will differ based on the plan.
A parent who wants to spy on Instagram in their kids phone as well as access all instant messengers apps, call logs, track messages sent, access GPS tracking and social networks will require either the Premium or Extreme package, as the Lite plan does not include access to Instagram.
Prices start from $29.95 to $199
4. XNSPY
XNSPY provides easy access to both Android and iPhone users and is one of the best tools to Instagram spy on Instagram.
As with the other apps or applications mentioned above, this is a great Instagram spy application for you if you are a parent who wants to keep an eye on and spy Instagram accounts as well as Instagram messages of your children.
This Instagram spy application has an easy app installation process, which allows you to have control over the account and password settings of your kid’s mobile phone, on top of being able to view their Instagram messages and photos sent to someone else.
You will basically be able to use, track and control all their activities and gather information on their Instagram account to make sure that your kids children are safe.
This Instagram spying app is also suitable for those who want to keep extra eyes on their partner or their loved ones partners, who they think are being unfaithful and engaging with others through Instagram messages or the use of dubious Instagram accounts with a side profile.
The features in the XNSPY Instagram spy phone app are not as complete as the other cell phone spy apps but they do make sure to feature all the basic tracking content such as phone activity and email monitoring, and reviews indicate that tech support is great.
Compatibility
The XNSPY Instagram spy app is compatible with all Android devices including Google Pixel as well as iOS devices, differing only slightly in the features available.
We found installation on the Android to be particularly easy. For the iPhone user, one thing to note is that jailbreaking requirements also differ according to version.
Pricing and Subscriptions
Prices for this Instagram spy app start at $49.99 per month and licenses are available for 1-month, 3-months and 12-months.
5. Cocospy
Cocospy is one of the popular spying apps with a user following across all continents. People tend to praise the app most for the parental control spy tool features that it has.
An interesting fact is that most people started out using it to find out whether or not their teens were being bullied, and whether or not their child was bullying others.
Specific to Instagram, Cocospy is also able to track all the basics such as Instagram direct messages sent and received, links and texts shared via Instagram chat, videos shared, as well as new follower requests.
The keylogger feature in this app is also advanced, making it possible to spy on not only Instagram but other apps such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, Google searches, email, website and web browser history, as well as regular phone content including contact details and pictures taken on the smartphone.
It comes in stealth mode and the data record will appear on the user dashboard remotely, remaining hidden and undetectable to the person being spied on. It will include the date and time when the keystroke was performed.
Compatibility
Cocospy is compatible with all Android and iOS devices.
Installation steps and account creation are straightforward with only basic details required, and it features a user interface that is simple to use on the phone.
Pricing and Subscriptions
Prices start at $39.99 per month and licenses are available for 1-month, 3-months and 12-months.
Additional Recommendations and Our Final Thoughts
One thing we do advise is that people be aware of jurisdiction laws and privacy law when it comes to the use of spying apps, and be ethical in the use of information they get.
Conclusion
We personally feel that it is important and a basic requirement to respect intellectual property and trademarks, which particularly applies if you are spying on employees who may have personal data saved on their phones.
So this is our list of the best spy apps for Instagram! Before subscribing for monthly access, you should create an account to use the trial version first, as many of these apps offer. This will give you a feel of the features of the app as well as activities that you will be able to track.
As a Master Degree graduate in the Internet Technology field, Stefan is highly dedicated towards improving the overall web security so internet users can browse freely without having to be afraid of technical loopholes. With over 15 years in the internet security industry, you should definitely take his advice seriously.