Feurstagram

Instagram without Reels, feed, Explore or ads.

Feurstagram is Instagram without Reels: an open-source patch for the official Android app that removes the feed, Reels, Explore, ads and telemetry, while keeping DMs, stories, search, notifications and profiles.

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Feurstagram social preview

## What it keeps and blocks | Keep using Instagram for | Remove or block | |--------------------------|-----------------| | Direct Messages | Endless Home feed | | Stories | Reels surfaces | | Search and profiles | Explore and suggested-account recommendations | | Notifications | Ads, shopping preloads, and telemetry | ## Preview

Feurstagram screenshots

Feurstagram settings tutorial

## Is it safe? Feurstagram does not collect, proxy, store, or transmit your credentials. It patches the official Instagram Android app to remove distracting features. The patches are open source and documented, so you can inspect what is changed. For maximum trust, you can build the APK yourself instead of downloading a prebuilt release. That said, Feurstagram is an unofficial project and is not affiliated with Instagram or Meta. It is a modified APK installed outside the Play Store, so Android may show installation warnings. Using a modified client may violate Instagram's terms of service. Use it at your own risk. ## What Feurstagram does NOT do Feurstagram does not: - bypass Instagram login; - collect your password or session tokens; - proxy your traffic through a third-party server; - add tracking or analytics; - scrape accounts; - sell or transmit user data; - claim affiliation with Instagram or Meta. ## Why Feurstagram? Unlike WebView-based alternatives, Feurstagram patches the real Android Instagram app. Unlike accessibility-service blockers, it does not simply react to the interface after it loads. Unlike closed-source Instagram mods, every patch is public and auditable. Feurstagram is built for people who want to keep Instagram's useful social features without the addictive parts. I built this project for myself as an alternative to [DFInstagram](https://www.distractionfreeapps.com/) which hasn't been maintained for a long time and was difficult to update. I'm sharing it so others can do the same for themselves. **This project is entirely free and open-source.** Feel free to fork, copy, enhance, or submit pull requests - do whatever you want with it! ## Documentation - [Installation guide](docs/INSTALL.md) - [Build from source](docs/BUILD_FROM_SOURCE.md) - [FAQ](docs/FAQ.md) - [Privacy](docs/PRIVACY.md) - [Contributing](CONTRIBUTING.md) - [Security policy](SECURITY.md) ## How do I get notified when there is a new update ? Feurstagram checks GitHub for a newer release on every launch and shows a download prompt when your build is out of date. This **automatic update check** is on by default and can be turned off in the Feurstagram settings page (Updates section). There is also a story on **the official Feurstagram** account every time there is an update. Feurstagram has moved to a **new account**, @feurstagram_off: - https://www.instagram.com/feurstagram_off/ Just follow this account and you will get a new story on each release. ## Community Join the Discord server to get support, follow updates, and discuss development: - https://discord.gg/Z9QvMw8s76 ## Contact Official email: **[feurstagram@gmail.com](mailto:feurstagram@gmail.com)**. Journalists can find facts, screenshots and logos in the [press kit](https://jean-voila.github.io/FeurStagram/press/). ## Installation You have two options: 1. **Ready-to-install APK** - Grab the latest patched APK from the [Releases](../../releases) page and install it directly 2. **DIY Patching** - Use the toolkit below to patch any Instagram version yourself ## What Gets Disabled All content blocks are **individual runtime toggles** — long-press the Home tab at the bottom-left of the main tab bar to open the Feurstagram settings page and check/uncheck what you want blocked. A single APK covers every combination. | Feature | Default | Toggleable | How | |---------|---------|------------|-----| | **Home Feed** | Blocked | Yes | Network-level blocking | | **Following feed only** | Off | Yes | Feed-request header rewrite | | **Explore** | Blocked | Yes | Network-level blocking | | **Reels** | Blocked | Yes | Network-level blocking + Tab hidden | | **Stories** | Visible | Yes | Network-level blocking | | **Suggested accounts** | Blocked | Yes | Network-level + feed-parse blocking | | **Instants (+ button in DMs)** | Blocked | Yes | View visibility hidden | | **Notes (text bubbles above DMs)** | Blocked | Yes | View visibility hidden | | **Ads** | Blocked | Yes | Network-level + feed-parse blocking | | **Analytics & telemetry** | Blocked | No | Always blocked | | **Shopping / commerce preloads** | Blocked | No | Always blocked | **Following feed only** is a softer alternative to blocking the Home Feed entirely: leave the feed unblocked and turn this on to get a chronological feed of just the accounts you follow, with the recommended/ranked posts dropped. ## What Still Works | Feature | Status | |---------|--------| | **Direct Messages** | Works | | **Profile** | Works | | **Reels in DMs** | Works | | **Search** | Works | | **Notifications** | Works | | **Deep links** | Works | ## Settings Page **Long-press the Home tab** (the house icon at the bottom-left of Instagram's main tab bar). A full-screen, scrollable settings page opens — Material 3 Expressive, monochrome, and padded to fit around system bars and cutouts on any device. It starts on an overview: one row per section, with Instagram's own outline icon and a one-line summary of that section's current state (for example "3 of 10 hidden"). Tapping a row opens the section's page in the same window, with a back arrow; Back returns to the overview. The sections are: - **Blocked surfaces** — toggles for Home Feed, Explore, Reels, Stories, Suggested accounts, Ads, Instants, and Notes. - **Navigation bar** — show or hide each bottom-bar icon (Search, Reels, Create, Messages, Profile) independently of the content blocks, with a live preview of the bar above the toggles. A toggle for a tab your Instagram build does not have (451 has no Create tab) is greyed out. Home always stays, since long-pressing it is how you get back here. A swipe that would land on a hidden tab carries straight on to the next visible one, so a hidden section stays hidden instead of being one flick away. - **Feed** — *Following feed only*: restrict the Home Feed to accounts you follow (chronological), instead of the recommended feed. Has effect only when the Home Feed is left unblocked. - **Display and popups** — *Force dark (disable HDR)* (on by default): stops Instagram forcing its window into HDR mode, which lifts the black floor and washes out the dark UI on HDR OLED screens. Turn it off to keep Instagram's HDR behaviour. *Instagram popups* (on by default) drops Instagram's own toasts, such as the "Couldn't refresh feed" message a blocked surface makes it raise. - **Landing page** — choose which surface the app jumps to on cold start (Home feed, Search, Direct messages, or Profile). A surface whose navigation icon is hidden can't be picked, and stops being used if you hide it later: landing on it would hand back exactly what you removed. - **Updates** — after an update, the first launch shows a **What's new** card with that version's release notes. Then, *Automatic update check* (on by default): on launch, Feurstagram checks GitHub for a newer release and, if your build is out of date, opens a page showing what changed in it. Choosing *Update* downloads the APK on a progress page you can cancel — or leave, in which case the download carries on in a notification — then hands it to Android's installer. No browser, no manual download. Turn the check off here if you'd rather look yourself. - **Support** — opens the project's [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/jean-voila) page. - **Permanent lock** and **Done** buttons pinned at the bottom so they stay reachable on any screen size. Changes persist across restarts (stored in SharedPreferences `feurstagram_prefs`). Once you change any setting, the page can only be left by restarting: both **Done** and **Back** clear the cache and relaunch, so a changed block can never leave the app in a half-applied state with stale content still loaded. If you open the page and change nothing, Back simply closes it. ### Permanent lock The permanent lock freezes your restrictions for this installation. It only prevents *relaxing* them: you can still make settings **stricter** (turn a block on), but you cannot turn a block back off without reinstalling. The freeze is captured per settings session, not the instant you flip a switch. When you open the settings page, Feurstagram snapshots which surfaces are currently blocked; only those stay frozen. A surface you turn on by mistake during a session can still be turned back off **until you tap Done** — Done clears the cache and restarts, which bakes the new state in as the next snapshot. This means a stray tap on a surface (e.g. Stories) is recoverable within the same session instead of forcing a reinstall. ## Requirements - JDK 21 and the Android SDK (`ANDROID_HOME` set, build-tools installed) - A GitHub token with the `read:packages` scope in `~/.gradle/gradle.properties`, used to fetch the patcher dependency: ```properties gpr.user= gpr.key= ``` ## Build from source 1. **Download an Instagram APK** from [APKMirror](https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/instagram/instagram-instagram/) (arm64-v8a recommended). 2. **Build and apply:** ```bash ./build.sh instagram.apk ``` Add `--clone` to install Feurstagram **alongside** a stock Instagram (separate package and data), and `--install` to push it to a connected device: ```bash ./build.sh instagram.apk --clone --install ``` The signed result is written to `feurstagram.apk`. ## Project structure ``` Feurstagram/ ├── build.sh # Build the bundle and apply it to an APK ├── patches/ # Patches (Kotlin): where to inject, by fingerprint │ └── src/main/kotlin/com/feurstagram/patches/ │ ├── network/ # Network blocking + feed-item filter + following-feed │ ├── settings/ # Long-press settings entry point (tab bar) │ ├── signature/ # Signing-cert trust bypass (deep links) │ ├── display/ # Force SDR (disable Instagram's forced HDR window) │ ├── debug/ # ADB settings bridge (dev only, --debug) │ └── clone/ # Side-by-side package/label rename └── extensions/ # Runtime code (Java), compiled and merged in └── .../com/feurstagram/extension/ ├── Block.java # URI blocking rules + feed-item type filter ├── LimitFeed.java # Following-feed header rewrite ├── Config.java # SharedPreferences toggles + permanent lock ├── Settings.java # Settings dialog ├── Display.java # Window colour-mode control (Force dark / SDR) ├── Hiders.java # Nav-tab / Notes / Instants hiders + landing redirect ├── HiddenTabSwipeSkipper.java # Keeps swipes off hidden tabs' pages ├── DebugBridge.java # Dev-only ADB bridge over the settings (--debug builds) └── UpdateChecker.java # On-launch GitHub release check ``` ## Design Feurstagram's own screens follow Material 3 Expressive in a monochrome dark scheme — white is the only accent, and everything is built in code because the mod has no resources of its own. The tokens, shapes, type scale, component rules and the window-inset requirements are written down in [docs/DESIGN.md](docs/DESIGN.md); read it before changing or adding any UI. ## Signing The bundle is signed during `build.sh`. Set `FEURSTAGRAM_KEYSTORE_PASS` (and optionally `FEURSTAGRAM_KEY_PASS`) to sign with `feurstagram.keystore`; otherwise a throwaway keystore is generated. Reuse the same keystore across builds to install updates without uninstalling first. ## Debugging Blocked requests surface as `java.io.IOException: Blocked by Feurstagram` in logcat: ```bash adb logcat | grep "Blocked by Feurstagram" ``` ## How It Works Patches locate their injection points by **fingerprint** (matching code by stable traits like class names, strings and method shapes) rather than by obfuscated names, so they keep applying across Instagram updates. The runtime logic lives in compiled extension classes that are merged into the app. ### Settings Hook A fingerprint matches the main tab-bar binder and injects a watcher on it. The watcher resolves the `feed_tab` id via `Resources.getIdentifier(...)`, grabs the Home tab once laid out, and installs a long-press listener. Long-pressing opens a full-screen Material dark page: content toggles plus a landing-page selector, all backed by `SharedPreferences` (`feurstagram_prefs`). The same hook installs the navigation-tab/Notes/Instants hiders, the hidden-tab swipe skipper and the cold-start landing-page redirect. ### Network Blocking A fingerprint matches `TigonServiceLayer.startRequest` (a named class) and injects a call on the request URI. Blocked calls throw an `IOException`, so the surface fails to load and stays empty. ### Feed Item Filtering Network blocking can't touch ads and "suggested" units that Instagram injects **inline** into the Home Feed payload — they arrive inside the normal `/feed/timeline/` response, not on a separate URL. A second fingerprint matches the feed-item JSON deserialiser (by the stable wire-format type tokens like `clips_netego` and the `parseFromJson` method name) and rewrites a blocked unit's type token to an invalid one. Instagram's own parser then routes it to its "unknown FeedItem type" branch and drops it — no crash. Ad/promo units are gated on the **Ads** toggle, suggested/netego units on the **Suggested accounts** toggle. ### Following Feed Only A fingerprint matches the main-feed request class (by its debug-string shape) and rewrites the request's `pagination_source` header from the recommended feed to `following`, so the Home Feed returns only accounts you follow. The header field is obfuscated, so it is resolved dynamically each build rather than hardcoded. Gated on the **Following feed only** toggle. ### Deep-link signature bypass Instagram checks that the running APK is signed by Meta before it follows a deep link into its own content. A re-signed FeurStagram build fails that check, so shared links (posts, reels, profiles) silently dropped to the home feed. A patch forces Instagram's signing-certificate trust checks to always pass, so it treats the build as genuine and deep links resolve normally. It matches on a stable error string rather than obfuscated names, so it needs no per-version maintenance. Fixes #36 and #106. ### Force SDR display Instagram switches its window into HDR mode at runtime (server-gated per account), which lifts the black floor on HDR OLED panels and leaves the flat dark UI looking washed out for no benefit. A patch reroutes every window colour-mode change through an extension helper that pins the window to SDR when the **Force dark** toggle is on (default), keeping blacks deep; turning it off passes Instagram's original colour mode through untouched. It hooks the framework `Window.setColorMode` call, so it too needs no per-version maintenance. Suggested accounts mixed into the story tray are not a separate request: they arrive as `reel_type: "suggested_user"` entries of the tray response itself. A parse-layer hook drops them when *Suggested accounts* is blocked, the same way feed ads are filtered. #### Blocked network paths | Path / pattern | Purpose | Toggleable | |----------------|---------|------------| | `/feed/timeline/` | Home feed posts | Yes | | `/feed/reels_tray` | Stories tray | Yes | | `/discover/topical_explore` | Explore tab content | Yes | | `/clips/home/`, `/clips/discover`, `/clips/get_blend_medias/` | Reels feed + discovery + Blend reels | Yes | | `/discover/ayml/`, `/discover/sectioned_ayml/`, `/discover/chaining/`, `/discover/recommended_accounts_for_category/`, `/discover/suggested_businesses/`, `/discover/recs_from_friends_suggestions/`, `/discover/recs_from_friends_user_info/`, `/discover/surface_with_su/`, `/discover/fetch_suggestion_details/`, `/discover/account_discovery/`, `/discover/reshare_suggestions/`, `/fbsearch/accounts_recs/`, `/friendships/feed_favorites_suggestions/`, `/friendships/share_to_friends_story_suggested_users/`, `/direct_v2/search_friending_suggestions/`, `/business/discovery/suggest_business/` | Suggested-account recommendations (profile "Suggested for you", stories-tray injected accounts, search null-state recs, post-follow chaining, friend/business suggestions) | Yes | | `/api/v1/ads/` (all `ads/*`), `/feed/async_ads_ranking/`, `/feed/shop_everything_feed_of_ads*`, `/feed/user_interests_contextual_feed_of_ads/`, `/discover/chaining_experience_contextual_ads/`, `/discover/chaining_experience_notification_ads/`, `/direct_v2/ads_for_ctd_ads_thread_view/`, `/direct_v2/should_show_ad_responses_tab/`, `/profile_ads/get_profile_ads/`, `/stories/stories_high_intent_discovery_ads/`, `/stories/stories_intent_aware_ads/`, `/commerce/product_collections/ads_collection_page/` | Sponsored ads injected into the feed, stories, profile, DMs, Explore chaining and commerce | Yes | | `/logging/` | Client event logging | No | | `/async_ads_privacy/` | Ad-related tracking | No | | `/async_critical_notices/` | Engagement nudge analytics | No | | `/api/v1/media/.../seen/` (path contains `/api/v1/media/` and `/seen`) | Post “seen” tracking | No | | `/api/v1/fbupload/` | Telemetry upload | No | | `/api/v1/stats/` | Performance / usage stats | No | | `/api/v1/commerce/`, `/api/v1/shopping/`, `/api/v1/sellable_items/` | Shopping / commerce preloads | No | Note: despite the name, `/feed/reels_tray` is the stories tray endpoint in Instagram internals. Matching uses `String.contains()` on the URI path. Instagram changes URL shapes over time; adjust the rules in `extensions/.../Block.java` if a block stops matching. ## Updating for New Instagram Versions Because patches are fingerprint-based, a new Instagram version usually just needs a rebuild (`./build.sh `). If Instagram restructures a targeted area, only the affected fingerprint needs adjusting. ## Contributing This is a personal project I'm sharing with the community. Contributions are welcome! - 🍴 **Fork it** - Make your own version - 🔧 **Pull requests** - Improvements and fixes are appreciated - 📋 **Copy it** - Use the code however you want - ✨ **Enhance it** - Build something even better ## License This project is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details. Built with the [Morphe](https://morphe.software) patcher and adapts Instagram patch ideas from [Piko](https://github.com/crimera/piko), both GPLv3. See [NOTICE](NOTICE) for attribution. Feurstagram is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Morphe or Piko.