Do you need an Instagram viewer for your desktop computer? Inssist is to the rescue.
Instagram is an app, so posting to Instagram from your phone is easy.
You and I need a way for people to view stories we want to post from our desktop computers.
The Inssist Google Chrome Extension is the Instagram Viewer for feed posts and stories we need.
By the time you’re done reading this post, you’ll know how to post to your Instagram grid from a PC.
It gets better: You’ll also learn how to post stories from your desktop computer to Instagram.
Let’s learn how to use Inssist to post to Instagram from your desktop. Be sure to stay until the end of the post for a bonus tip.
If you need help following the instructions below, watch this video tutorial demonstrating how to use Inssist.
How to Post to Instagram From PC… and More
History of the Instagram App as an Instagram Viewer
Launched back in 2010, Instagram remains a mobile-first social networking platform. It is easy to share a photo, video, or story to Instagram from a mobile app, but what about the service’s desktop capabilities?
If we turn to the Instagram Web client at https://www.instagram.com, there is no photo sharing button, no story upload feature and not so long ago we even had no way of sending Direct Messages.
If you tend to pre-edit your photos and videos, you might feel extra pain sending media files from your phone or camera to your PC or Mac to edit and then back to the mobile app to post.
Host blogger’s comments: Before discovering the Inssist Chrome Extension, I needed to email my photos and videos back and forth from my desktop to my phone since I could only send them to Instagram from my phone.
What if there was a better way?
Luckily there is a more efficient Instagram viewer.
I will guide you through a free App that makes Instagram usable on Desktop and cover some of its unique perks:
- Scheduling,
- Insights,
- Hashtag search,
- Analytics
- and Multi-account support.
Meet INSSIST
The App is called INSSIST which stands for “Instagram Assistant”.
It is a browser extension and works in every Chromium-based browser: Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera, Microsoft Edge, and for those obsessed with privacy (like me), Brave as well.
INSSIST is uber easy to setup. Just navigate to https://get.inssist.com and click the blue “Add to Chrome” button. A “Plus” icon will appear in the Chrome toolbar in the top right corner. Clicking it any time brings in the INSSIST interface.
There is no need to enter the Instagram login and password if you have signed in to Instagram in the desktop browser. The plugin picks up your Instagram session automatically. Simple and secure.
The App’s Privacy Policy states that the App sends none of your data away from your PC so we can all sleep well. And if you feel techy, you can Inspect the app in Browser and check what data it sends to Instagram and back.
What hides behind the minimalistic interface is a powerful engine that utilizes Instagram Web API and makes posting photos, videos, and stories possible. From here on, you can use most of the Instagram mobile app features we love so much.
Posting Photos and Videos
To post a photo, video, or story, click the Plus button at the bottom of the iPhone frame. Select a photo or video from your PC, enter an optional caption, location, and mention and hit Share. INSSIST is the only app to date that allows sharing videos and stories to Instagram from Desktop without sharing Instagram passwords with a 3rd party app.
The same process goes for stories upload albeit some features such as Music and Gifs are not yet supported by Instagram Web API and thus not implemented on the App.
… did I mention it is free?
As you progress through the post upload sequence there is a nice little feature that potentially will save you a lot of time.
Hashtag Search
As you enter hashtags, INSSIST will automatically suggest up to 30 or more relevant ones. Simply click suggested hashtags to add them to the post caption.
The screenshot shows my October 2021 Instagram storyviewer.
When I posted my YouTube video for my article about Quora vs Reddit, Inssist recommended relevant hashtags. When I began choosing the hashtags, Inssist told me how competitive the hashtag is. Notice how you can use Instagram to cross-purpose your YouTube videos.
One important note though…
I had more success uploading still images to my Instagram stories using Inssist than I did uploading videos.
There is, of course, more to the app than posting.
Dark Mode, Wide Screen Mode, Direct Messages
If you’re a fan of Dark Mode, INSSIST has one of the best, custom Dark Mode implementations for Instagram. If not, you can always switch back to the Light one.
The same goes for Wide Screen support. Browsing the photos in a small iPhone frame may get awkward on a wide PC screen, so there is a button to expand that.
Direct Messages were introduced to Instagram Web Client just recently. Yet still many people report a lack of this crucial Instagram feature on Desktop PC / Mac. INSSIST App fixes that and brings DM support for everyone. It also shows the DM module in a split-screen that lets you browse Instagram profiles and answer to DMs at the same time:
I bet most of us, humans, type faster on a PC keyboard than mobile. Handy!
Paid Features
All the features mentioned above are free. Let’s now have a look at the paid stuff. At the time of writing, the price for the INSSIST PRO version is $5/month and it has 4 key features that are constantly evolving (you can stay up to date by subbing to official @inssistapp Instagram account).
Scheduling
INSSIST is designed to save time and not to get in your way of doing things. Scheduling a bunch of posts for later is a cornerstone of the social network management apps nowadays and INSSIST got us covered here as well.
It must be mentioned that, per Instagram terms of use, scheduling posts on Instagram is possible only if your Instagram account is public and has a Business status.
Moreover, if you ever used Facebook Creator Studio for scheduling Instagram posts you might know it involves creating a Facebook Page and connecting it to your Instagram account. The overall setup process is cumbersome, to say the least, and can get messy.
Fortunately, INSSIST has an RPA (Robotic Process Automation) system that automates setting up this connection for you in a few clicks. Once your Instagram account is connected to the Facebook Scheduling API, the App presents you with an organic, drag&drop powered calendar, time-slots, and scheduling interface:
It should be noted that scheduled posts are stored on Facebook servers and delivered even if you went offline. Scheduling does not involve setting up any extra mobile apps or receiving notifications when it is time to publish.
What’s more, you can publish and schedule Carousels (multi-photo posts) this way, without mobile app notifications. If you know of other apps that can do that, please let me know in the comments.
And, yeah, INSSIST supports cross-posting to your Facebook Page.
Insights and Analytics
Insights and Analytics are two unique features of INSSIST.
Insights is a module that can scan any public Instagram account for publicly available data and report on a number of things:
- The time of day and day of week account posts.
- The hashtags they use sorted by engagement.
- Their posts, followers, and followings.
- The percentage of spam-bot accounts in their follower’s list. The high percentage may indicate purchased followers and is a red flag if you’re paying Influencers for promotion.
All of the Insights data is downloadable for further study.
INSSIST Analytics is a module that scans your account periodically and reports on new Instagram followers AND Instagram un-followers.
A handy feature is being able to engage with the new followers and un-followers right from the module in a few clicks, e.g.:
- Send them Direct Messages.
- Like their posts.
- Or follow them back.
Multi-Account Support
My favorite feature of the plugin is the ability to connect and switch between multiple Instagram accounts in one click. I oversee a few corporate Instagram accounts plus a personal travel blog and INSSIST makes managing them a breeze.
Currently, INSSIST’s price does not scale up with the number of accounts you connect and managing 8 accounts is as cheap as managing just 2.
Inssist Updates
UPDATE October 2021
Did you know the Instagram Story has something in common with YouTube shorts?
It’s true. They are both vertical. Therefore, you can repurpose your Instagram story as a YouTube short. YouTube is pushing out shorts, a new feature, so this is your chance of getting your content in front of a new platform of people without doing any additional content creation.
This Instagram Viewer PC has updates since the publication of this post.
Exciting news: You can now add a Swipe Up link to your Instagram Stories when posting from your desktop.
UPDATE September 2021
Instead of the Swipe Up link, Instagram is now adding a Link sticker.
UPDATE: February 2023
Bonus Tip:
You can also buy instagram followers to increase your popularity. Check out this article, to know in detail – Buy Instagram Follower.
Wrapping Up: How to Use the Inssist Instagram Viewer
I hope this overview was useful and the plugin will save you effort managing your account, schedule posts, and help you reach more people. Working with Instagram on a desktop PC turns out to be not so hard anymore and can help you stay away from your phone… Or spend better time on it. Check out the INSSIST IN 80 SECONDS video if you want to see the plugin in action: https://youtube/WDYIX2hlsvo.
Readers, please share so Social Media Marketers, Bloggers, and Fellow Instagrammers learn how to up their social network game by using Inssist.
I look forward to your views in the comments section. Do you know of other powerful Instagram desktop tools and apps?
This post was contributed.
Related Reading: 89 Instagram Secrets You Need to Know
