Login-Based vs Export-Based Instagram Trackers

Apps that answer "who unfollowed me?" generally work in one of two ways. Knowing the difference helps you decide what to trust.

Login-based trackers

Some trackers ask you to sign in with your Instagram account, or to connect it, so they can read your followers over time. That means handing a third party access to your account. Before you do, read the app's privacy policy and permissions, and check what Instagram's current Terms of Use say about third-party access. We have not tested any specific app, so this page makes no claim about the safety of any named product.

Export-based trackers

Instagram lets you request a copy of your own data. In the Instagram app this is under Settings, then Accounts Centre, then Your information and permissions, then Download your information. Choose the Connections data, in JSON format. The file includes the accounts that follow you and the accounts you follow.

FollowScope works from that file. You drop it into the page, and it reads and analyses it in your browser. The export is not uploaded to our servers, and no Instagram password is requested.

What export-based tools can and cannot do

- They can show who you follow that does not follow you back, who follows you that you do not follow back, and your mutual connections. - They cannot show who unfollowed you from a single file. An export is a snapshot of one moment. To see who left, you need a second, newer export to compare against the first. - FollowScope keeps a snapshot of your follower list in your browser's local storage (the last 10 snapshots) so it can compare with a later export. You can delete snapshots from the dashboard, and they never leave your device. - They are not real-time. Instagram prepares exports on request, and it can take some time to arrive.

How to choose

1. Decide whether you are comfortable giving a third party access to your account. If not, prefer an export-based tool. 2. Read the privacy policy of any tool before using it. 3. Expect the first run of an export-based tool to show no unfollowers. The comparison appears from the second upload.

*FollowScope is our own tool, so treat this comparison with that in mind.*