Keeping track of your Instagram followers can be an impossible task. You can of course manually monitor who has unfollowed you each day, but that requires knowing who all of your followers are and spending the time to sift through your account to see whether they’re still there.
If you have only a handful of followers it’s achievable, but otherwise you’ll find it much easier and reliable to use a third-party app instead. We show you how to find out who unfollowed you on Instagram.
You can also read up on Twitter’s upcoming feature, Super Follows.
How to use a third-party follower app on Instagram
Why do all the legwork when you can have an app do it for you instead? Looking on the iOS App Store or Google Play Store reveals a wealth of different options that will not only let you know who unfollowed your Instagram account but in many cases you’ll have access to trend analysis and other interesting data.
Many of these more advanced features will usually require signing up to the Pro versions of the apps, but the unfollowing feature is normally included for free.
Some of the best reviewed apps we’ve seen include:
- Follower Tracker (Android)
- iMetric (Android)
- Unfollowers & Followers Track (iOS)
- InstaFollowers (iOS)
- Reports: Followers Tracker (iOS)
- Followmeter for Instagram (Android & iOS)
One thing worth noting is that Instagram seems to regularly change how third-party apps can access its API, which means that features can be broken when Instagram is updated. Most apps get patched quickly, but bear in mind that from time to time you might find that an app that worked perfectly before might suddenly lose the ability to track who unfollowed you.
To set up the app, go to the relevant app store and download it to your device, then launch it and sign into your Instagram account. We found that several apps got stuck when using your Facebook account to log in, so if you encounter that problem, use your normal Instagram account details instead.
For this tutorial, we used Reports: Followers Tracker which breaks things down into two separate options Unfollowers and Lost Followers. The first shows the people you follow who don’t follow you back, while the latter just shows those that have unfollowed your account since the last time you refreshed the setting. Simple as that.
So, if you check back regularly, you’ll be able to see who has lost interest or done the dirty and followed you, waited for you to follow them back, then immediately unfollowed you.
You will have to contend with adverts, some of which can be quite annoying, but should you really want to get into the stats regarding your account, there are the paid versions that bring extra features and no adverts. But, for most people, the free tiers offer enough benefits to offset the barrage of rampant capitalism.
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Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews for Macworld and its sister site Tech Advisor.