Instagram follower tracking apps are popular in the App Store and Google Play Store. These apps promise to show you who unfollowed you and show you a list of people you follow who don’t follow you back.
Many Instagram users want to download these apps because Instagram does not offer this as a built-in feature. However, these apps are not always reliable or safe to download.
If you are thinking about downloading one of these apps or already have one downloaded, please remember to read this first and think twice about using these apps.
Security issues with Instagram follower tracking apps
One of the biggest problems with these apps is related to security. These apps require you to hand over your Instagram username and password to a third party. This means that your password is no longer secure.
After all, how much can you trust a third-party app? Just because an app has positive reviews in the App Store or Google Play Store, doesn’t mean it’s safe enough to store your password.
Since your password is no longer secure, it becomes more likely to be hacked. You may have seen friends or acquaintances on Instagram being hacked before. Most of the time, hackers will ask your friends for money or send links to your friends, which can lead to them getting hacked as well.
Sometimes getting hacked means you have to create a new Instagram account and lose all your followers. To prevent any of this from happening, avoid giving away your password to a third party.
Instagram API reliability issues
Due to previous changes to Instagram’s API, these apps may not even be reliable. While previous versions of Instagram made it easy for these apps to operate, newer versions will not be as accurate and some apps may have lost access to this information completely.
This means that apart from the potential security issues of these apps, downloading may not work. This means that you will potentially reverse your password for nothing.
What to do if you downloaded a follower tracking app
If you have downloaded or downloaded a follower tracking app in the past, there are still things you can do to prevent your Instagram account from being hacked. The first thing you should do is disconnect the app and delete it.
After you disconnect your account, the app will no longer be able to retrieve your information. However, your password may still be stored elsewhere. After you disconnect, remember to change your password.
After changing your password, the last thing you should do is enable two-factor authentication. This will make it even more difficult for a potential hacker to get into your account. Two-factor authentication means you’ll also get a code sent to your phone or email when a device that Instagram doesn’t recognize tries to log in.
Are follower tracking apps ever useful?
These apps have a number of issues, including security and reliability issues. This means that it is not a good idea to download these apps. Even if you download one to check and then change your password right away, you’ll still get bad information.
If you’re interested in seeing if someone you follow doesn’t follow you back, you’ll have to do things the old-fashioned way and head over to their page to check. Although this may take a lot of time, it is the only way to guarantee that you will not be hacked. This information is also real-time, so it is accurate.
You can also upgrade to a professional account, which will show you basic follow/unfollow statistics.
Anyway, avoid using these apps as they are not safe or reliable.