I would love have something like this on a phone but only solution which I thought of other than stop using the app is decompile whole app, remove the reels and recompile it again which is not very viable solution.
throawayonthe 30 days ago [-]
not that i love this solution but that's exactly what the revanecd project does
This works on Firefox Mobile. I use it on Android and my Desktop without any issue.
I'll add also, for the odd thing that this doesn't filter, then I use uBlock Origin to filter that particular element.
TheCapeGreek 30 days ago [-]
I use ScreenZen for mobile - it can block specifically short form content so you can stick to the actual social parts.
CarlJW 30 days ago [-]
I use timelimit.io for managing screen time. Nice granular controls and schedule based rules.
I apply the 80/20 rule. 8 minutes allowed, followed by 2 minutes blocked. Then at night I reverse it. 2 minutes allowed, 8 minutes blocked. Just enough time to make one search query and then get off my phone. Or if I do get trapped by something, it's only for a short time.
Haven't checked on it since about mid last year but Facebook settings didn't work with it for me.
LinkedIn has also been especially hard to find a good blocker for to remove the sponsored/suggested posts from the timeline (it's just full of garbage engagement bait hot takes).
I just vibecoded a tampermonkey script to block scrolling on Instagram and also block reels. I also had it redirect from the `/reels/` URL to `/reel` which is just the single video view (for when friends link me memes), but it seems they removed that.
Edit, some things I've been able to us ublock origin for. Like facebook reels. Not 100% clean but enough to stop them from working (no video, just still thumbnail when you open them). In some ways that provides some reinforcement learning to the brain.
Natfan 30 days ago [-]
if you're just using meta platforms for the chat functionality, may i recommend beeper.com?
kelnos 30 days ago [-]
> I'm trying to make Instagram be what my parents said Facebook was.
Hell, you're trying to make Instagram be what Instagram used to be. Back in the early (pre-Meta) days, it was just a reverse-chronological feed of the posts from people you followed.
A decent part of why I bailed on Instagram back in 2019 or so was because it had stopped being this for a while (posts reordered, some not even shown, so many ads).
hbn 30 days ago [-]
You can still get a chronological feed if you tap the Instagram logo at the top and click "Following"
But you can't turn that mode on as a default, and it essentially kicks you from the normal app hierarchy into a separate barebones screen. I find it's all for naught anyway because my friends have long since stopped making regular posts on Instagram, it's more common to use stories.
CincinnatiMan 30 days ago [-]
Do Stories show up differently than posts? Asking as someone that has not used Instagram beyond looking at a few specific profiles.
hbn 29 days ago [-]
Stories are the purpley-yellow rings at the top of the main page with people's profile pictures. Or if you go to their profile you'll see the ring around their profile picture. Stuff you post there stays viewable for 24 hours.
Posts are the stuff that appears in the main feed and your profile permanently (unless you remove it manually)
You can also get into the difference between posts are reels but... they've kinda fuzzied that over the years.
zadikian 30 days ago [-]
Didn't know about this and wow, I had missed stuff from real friends because the regular feed hid it.
kelnos 30 days ago [-]
Right, you used to be able to do that with Facebook, too (haven't been on there in forever, don't know the current state), but, right, it would reset to the usual slop after a little while.
This sort of garbage is just yet another reason why I don't want to be on these platforms. "Oh, you prefer it this way? No, fuck you, we know better as to what you want."
> my friends have long since stopped making regular posts on Instagram, it's more common to use stories.
Ugh. I don't know what my friends have been doing these days on Instagram, but the last thing I want to spend my day doing is watching short-form video clips posted by my friends. The photo stream (yes, with occasional short videos), was wonderful.
Heading to the home page, opening the menu, and tapping "See More" reveals a "Feeds" option. Tapping the "Feeds" option then reveals the chronological feed.
coldtrait 30 days ago [-]
In my case, Instagram eventually got to a point where most of my friends and family stopped posting. And I started following more creators because their content was interesting. These days there are some a few people I follow who are friends and I mostly just send them dumb reels. I see it more as a platform to consume content than keeping up with updates.
That said, I go through cycles of removing the app and reinstalling it later because it gets addictive.
hmokiguess 30 days ago [-]
I don't use the app so I confess I'm a little confused, I saw your screenshot and it seems like the end result is just scrolling through nothing. Why would you want that? Isn't it better to just not open it altogether? Like, block the entire thing? Why scroll through a bunch of blur
shraiwi 30 days ago [-]
The screenshot was to demonstrate what blocked posts look like. I scrolled past the posts of my friends since I didn't want to dox them, but organic posts do show up near the top of my feed.
The goal isn't to scroll through nothing, but rather have a clean feed that shows me just my friends and nothing else.
diath 30 days ago [-]
When you press "For you" at the top in the Instagram app (or the logo if it doesn't fully load), you can switch to "Following" and it will show you posts from only your friends from the past 30 days, and if you're using Instagram in the browser, you can bookmark https://www.instagram.com/?variant=following if you want it to be the default page you go to.
SirMaster 30 days ago [-]
So why blur and not just hide?
yard2010 30 days ago [-]
It says in the post OP didn't want to fix the layout (and it is implied that empty space is less friendly than blurred content)
Forgeties79 30 days ago [-]
Same reason people use app timers when they can elect to not use the app instead.
varenc 30 days ago [-]
From the gist:
> I'm trying to make Instagram be what my parents said Facebook was
This sure makes me feel old. It's a great goal though. I miss the golden era of Facebook when it was really just friend content.
sodapopcan 30 days ago [-]
It took a nosedive the day the news feed was released. I remember people were angry about it and it's one of those things that didn't just take getting used to, it still sucks all these years later.
kgwxd 30 days ago [-]
I did something similar for myself a few years ago:
||instagram.com^
h4kunamata 30 days ago [-]
Instead of using apps, use Brave browser and you will think that Instagram is a comepletely new social media.
I run PiHole + Unbound + OPNSense firewall at home, everything is filtered, plus Brave browser shield filter.
I also run GrapheneOS so I banned myself from using apps and use the mobile version instead, duuuuude, Instagram is actually usable.
To upload videos however, I must use its app, duuuuude, it is just ADs, suggestions, shorts and shit.
If people tried to use Instagram via Brave browser instead of the app, that alone would explain to you why I hate apps and how apps allow companies to push shit into you all.
Larrikin 30 days ago [-]
Instead of promoting the Chrome ecosystem, you can just run Firefox with AdNauseum.
h4kunamata 30 days ago [-]
>promoting the Chrome ecosystem
So sharing an opinion you do not agree with is now called "promoting"? WoW
You no longer need to install extension that often are compromised, its Shield & Privacy is able to block YouTure Shorts and what not, no other browser does that or it does and Google find a way to bypass it.
We do not have access to the Shield lists, so neither does Google.
I used Firefox for years until it become useless, things might have changed now but too late.
And because I do not agree with your pov, I won't call it promoting Firefox, you do whatever pleases you!!
Larrikin 30 days ago [-]
Yuck
TheCapeGreek 30 days ago [-]
Firefox has lost the plot, Orion is close but still has the odd UI bug that makes it tough to recommend, Safari is just Safari.
There is no truly good, independent, feature complete browser out there right now if you want to avoid Chrome and have something that a) works and b) isn't hostile to the userbase.
Brave at the very least said they'd keep supporting Manifest v2 extensions, though not sure how you'd acquire them anymore unless Chrome web store has kept the listings up.
yarivk 30 days ago [-]
Interesting approach.
Sometimes the simplest tools are the most useful.
Bringing Instagram back to a more "friends only" experience is a nice idea
gutafoki 30 days ago [-]
I think this is already possible. You can snooze suggestions and then if you scroll to the top of Instagram, you can select "Following" instead of "For you". Maybe this is not possible in browsers though, I've only ever done this on my phone.
permo-w 30 days ago [-]
Does Instagram even have reels in the browser? If it has I've never noticed them
maurelius2 30 days ago [-]
> I'm trying to make Instagram be what my parents said Facebook was.
Christ, I'm old.
apples_oranges 30 days ago [-]
i was hoping Instagram would add a toggle to get rid of this stuff!
in_a_hole 30 days ago [-]
On the mobile app you can tap the Instagram logo and there's an option to show only posts from your follows. It's not sticky, unfortunately.
Also if you're on android I recommend:
distractionfreeapps.com/
They make a bootleg version of the app with the ability to remove certain feeds, e.g. reels, discover, stories
Nice. Love seeing simpler solutions like this pop up.
deafpolygon 30 days ago [-]
My solution is rather simple: don’t use Instagram.
HelloUsername 30 days ago [-]
> My solution is rather simple: don’t use Instagram.
Then this post is not for you, why even comment
deafpolygon 30 days ago [-]
my response is not for you, why even reply
spike021 30 days ago [-]
there are plenty of positive things that can come from using a platform like Instagram.
dylan604 30 days ago [-]
That's what they said about facebook. That's what they said about twitter. Not once has it actually been true for me.
deafpolygon 30 days ago [-]
name at least 10 things; if there’s plenty, this should be easy.
spike021 26 days ago [-]
sure.
* made friends to meet up with locally in the bay area from multiple hobbies (roadtripping, photography).
* made friends to meet up with in japan:
* i've now made at least a couple dozen friends who i've visited for meals, road trips, baseball games.
* been invited by other friends to come and take photos at their events and workspaces (like one works for a famous car tuner shop in Saitama and they asked if I could take photos of the owner as he fabricated parts for his race car)
* made another friend who's an expat living in Japan who takes photos as a job for various tourism agencies/local governments who i've hung out with
* made friends while in japan with people who also have shiba inu dogs and we keep in touch between visits using IG
I could go on and on.
steadeepanda 30 days ago [-]
[dead]
Rendered at 02:38:53 GMT+0000 (UTC) with Wasmer Edge.
Sometimes we find ourselves stuck having to use a particular platform because that's where the group chat is.
I've had great success with Firefox and the Social Focus extension. Works on a number of different sites including YouTube, Reddit and Instagram.
https://socialfocus.app/
here are their available patches for instagram: https://revanced.app/patches?pkg=com.instagram.android
I'll add also, for the odd thing that this doesn't filter, then I use uBlock Origin to filter that particular element.
I apply the 80/20 rule. 8 minutes allowed, followed by 2 minutes blocked. Then at night I reverse it. 2 minutes allowed, 8 minutes blocked. Just enough time to make one search query and then get off my phone. Or if I do get trapped by something, it's only for a short time.
https://timelimit.io/en/
LinkedIn has also been especially hard to find a good blocker for to remove the sponsored/suggested posts from the timeline (it's just full of garbage engagement bait hot takes).
I just vibecoded a tampermonkey script to block scrolling on Instagram and also block reels. I also had it redirect from the `/reels/` URL to `/reel` which is just the single video view (for when friends link me memes), but it seems they removed that.
For facebook I love Facebook Purity. Only problem is it's desktop only. https://www.fbpurity.com/
Edit, some things I've been able to us ublock origin for. Like facebook reels. Not 100% clean but enough to stop them from working (no video, just still thumbnail when you open them). In some ways that provides some reinforcement learning to the brain.
Hell, you're trying to make Instagram be what Instagram used to be. Back in the early (pre-Meta) days, it was just a reverse-chronological feed of the posts from people you followed.
A decent part of why I bailed on Instagram back in 2019 or so was because it had stopped being this for a while (posts reordered, some not even shown, so many ads).
But you can't turn that mode on as a default, and it essentially kicks you from the normal app hierarchy into a separate barebones screen. I find it's all for naught anyway because my friends have long since stopped making regular posts on Instagram, it's more common to use stories.
Posts are the stuff that appears in the main feed and your profile permanently (unless you remove it manually)
You can also get into the difference between posts are reels but... they've kinda fuzzied that over the years.
This sort of garbage is just yet another reason why I don't want to be on these platforms. "Oh, you prefer it this way? No, fuck you, we know better as to what you want."
> my friends have long since stopped making regular posts on Instagram, it's more common to use stories.
Ugh. I don't know what my friends have been doing these days on Instagram, but the last thing I want to spend my day doing is watching short-form video clips posted by my friends. The photo stream (yes, with occasional short videos), was wonderful.
Heading to the home page, opening the menu, and tapping "See More" reveals a "Feeds" option. Tapping the "Feeds" option then reveals the chronological feed.
That said, I go through cycles of removing the app and reinstalling it later because it gets addictive.
The goal isn't to scroll through nothing, but rather have a clean feed that shows me just my friends and nothing else.
> I'm trying to make Instagram be what my parents said Facebook was
This sure makes me feel old. It's a great goal though. I miss the golden era of Facebook when it was really just friend content.
||instagram.com^
I run PiHole + Unbound + OPNSense firewall at home, everything is filtered, plus Brave browser shield filter.
I also run GrapheneOS so I banned myself from using apps and use the mobile version instead, duuuuude, Instagram is actually usable.
To upload videos however, I must use its app, duuuuude, it is just ADs, suggestions, shorts and shit.
If people tried to use Instagram via Brave browser instead of the app, that alone would explain to you why I hate apps and how apps allow companies to push shit into you all.
So sharing an opinion you do not agree with is now called "promoting"? WoW
You no longer need to install extension that often are compromised, its Shield & Privacy is able to block YouTure Shorts and what not, no other browser does that or it does and Google find a way to bypass it.
We do not have access to the Shield lists, so neither does Google.
I used Firefox for years until it become useless, things might have changed now but too late.
And because I do not agree with your pov, I won't call it promoting Firefox, you do whatever pleases you!!
There is no truly good, independent, feature complete browser out there right now if you want to avoid Chrome and have something that a) works and b) isn't hostile to the userbase.
Brave at the very least said they'd keep supporting Manifest v2 extensions, though not sure how you'd acquire them anymore unless Chrome web store has kept the listings up.
Sometimes the simplest tools are the most useful. Bringing Instagram back to a more "friends only" experience is a nice idea
Also if you're on android I recommend:
distractionfreeapps.com/
They make a bootleg version of the app with the ability to remove certain feeds, e.g. reels, discover, stories
https://www.instagram.com/?variant=following
Then this post is not for you, why even comment
* made friends to meet up with locally in the bay area from multiple hobbies (roadtripping, photography).
* made friends to meet up with in japan:
I could go on and on.