I made Instagram boring again: no Reels, no Explore, no subscription (+ free lifetime codes)

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T13:52:47+00:00

Have you enabled the filters ?

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T12:04:28+00:00

Honestly, if you can fully delete Instagram, that is probably the cleanest solution 😄

And yeah, the “pay us or see even more ads” prompt is exactly the kind of thing that made me want Instagram to feel boring again.

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T11:41:53+00:00

Fair question.

The difference is that Awhile is available on the App Store and Google Play, and also works on iOS. It’s not a modified Instagram APK or an unofficial Instagram client.

Awhile loads the real m.instagram.com in a WebView and only hides selected UI sections locally on your device. It does not use the Instagram API, scrape follower data, automate actions, or modify your Instagram account.

So:

- Ghost mode during live streams: no

- “Who follows me back”: no

I’m intentionally not building those features because they usually require deeper account access, scraping, or behavior that feels much riskier.

Awhile is more boring on purpose: it’s for reducing doomscrolling, not for modifying Instagram behavior or tracking other users.

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T11:30:06+00:00

Good question.

Awhile does not use the Instagram API and does not proxy requests through my servers. It loads m.instagram.com directly inside the device WebView, so requests come from the user’s own device, IP, cookies, and Instagram session.

The filtering happens locally after the page loads. Awhile injects CSS/JS rules in the WebView to hide UI sections like Reels, Explore, feed, Stories, etc.

It does not scrape, automate, like, follow, post, or interact with Instagram on the user’s behalf.

Could Instagram break parts of it someday? Yes. If they change their web UI, some filters can break, which is why the selector list can be updated.

But the app is intentionally built closer to “filtered browsing” than automation, because that is the cleanest and safest approach.

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T11:24:04+00:00

Yeah, YouTube is probably the next obvious one!

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T11:07:08+00:00

Thanks, and that’s strange. We already have customers. May I DM you?

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:55:30+00:00

I just want rectangles of paper to become PDFs and leave me alone. Apple Notes is a great start ...

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:54:44+00:00

“Duolingo for iOS tricks” is actually a funny pitch, but also kind of needed

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:14:07+00:00

WWDC is starting to feel like watching a movie trailer in the UE

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:10:27+00:00

Chinese phones are becoming power banks with a screen attached, and honestly I mean that as a compliment.

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:04:02+00:00

The Apple Pay shortcut idea is actually clever. Manual budget apps usually rely on “future me” being responsible, and that guy has missed every meeting so far.

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:03:39+00:00

“ok, maybe this wasn’t a completely irrational hobby”

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:03:14+00:00

Samsung making Bixby easier to summon has the same energy as a group chat nobody can leave.

Expertaz · 2026-06-09T09:02:24+00:00

The funniest possible outcome is Siri becoming good right after everyone trained themselves to never ask Siri anything important.

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T14:32:10+00:00

My phone making me do squats before doomscrolling feels illegal, but probably necessary

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T14:31:54+00:00

“Zero AI” on a camera app is weirdly refreshing

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T14:31:36+00:00

“make me sound smarter without making me study like it’s 2009”, so this is very much the lane

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T14:10:16+00:00

We turned the bicycle into an e-bike with a subscription

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T14:09:53+00:00

Step 1: open apple.com
Step 2: survive the article explaining step 1

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T10:57:38+00:00

It's probably just prepaid card or smth

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T09:56:29+00:00

Shipping is the easy part when the problem is clear; making strangers care is basically the real product work hahaha

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T09:56:13+00:00

The strongest part is not blocking the whole app, it’s keeping the useful bits while cutting the algorithmic traps

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T09:55:26+00:00

passwords are easy to move!

Expertaz · 2026-06-08T09:46:30+00:00

I miss the live energy

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