What do you do when you have to post pictures or videos on Instagram from a PC? Well, I’ve already talked about the Instagram Creators Studio which is a must if you want to post photos/videos from PC. Another way you can do all this on your PC is by using a Chrome extension called INSSIST. This extension pretty much does the same things but adds an appealing Instagram UI. But is that all it can do? Of course not, read on to amp up your Instagram game on PC.
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INSSIST Chrome Extension: Best Instagram for PC Experience?
INSSIST is a popular Chrome extension that helps you to post photos, videos, stories to Instagram from the Web. Here are some useful things it can do.
- Post photos/videos
- Post IGTV/stories
- Download Posts
- Use Instagram in dark mode
- Hashtag suggestions
To get started install the chrome extension from here. Once done, press the newly created extension icon on your toolbar to launch INSSIST. You will notice it’s almost identical to the Instagram app (on iPhone). You can pretty much do anything such as scroll through the feed, scroll horizontally to view stories, like/comment on posts, save a post, tag friends in comments, etc.
You can not only upload videos to Instagram from Computer, but it also supports uploading videos to IGTV, Stories as well as Reels. In our testing this features worked well. Also, it’s the only Chrome extension that supports Video uploads from Computer at the moment. The steps do it is same as you would do on the Instagram app on your smartphone.
There are two limitations when you post content. First, when you post a story, you have tagging tools, stickers, marker tools, etc, but don’t work as fluently as it work on smartphones. Also, you don’t get the infinite amount of Instagram filters like you get in Instagram mobile app. The second issue comes while, choosing a thumbnail for your video posts. You only get 2 free custom thumbnails, after which you have to upgrade to pro. However, there’s a way to bypass it. Keep on reading, you’ll find this method in the post assistant point.
INSSIST can do much more than uploading photos/videos to instagram. In fact, it has four major feature tabs – Direct Messages, Post Assistant, Insights, and Analytics, let’s look at them one by one.
1. Instagram Direct Messages on PC
The first feature tab is direct messages. While Instagram web client also support direct messages, this chrome extension takes it one step further. It has a ghost-read mode which when enabled doesn’t mark any message seen and read even when you open it (Pro feature, limited time preview)
2. Post Assistant
Remember I told you how this extension doesn’t allow you to select custom thumbnails? Well, this feature, in my opinion, is the INSSIST’s way of burning their own fingers. Although this might be a design error that the post assistant tap is a rip off of creators studio with all the features intact. So the drawback we faced in the first points can be easily fixed here.
I know you have to let go of the Instagram mobile app like UI, but you get all the advantages that the creator studio has to offer. If you’re not familiar with the Creator Studio, you can read more about it in detail here.
You can also plan grids, post carousels, schedule post and make use of the intuitive calendar function. This was all you have to do is click on a date from the calendar, add content and schedule the post. You can also view all your previews, scheduled, draft posts in a grid format in the calendar.
3. Insights
If you’re a creator, gaining insights from fellow creator can not only help you grow your Instagram following by posting relevant content but also meaningful information such as spam followers on your own profile. Insights tab lets you track two Instagram users with the free version. Besides the usual info such as total posts/followers, posting time, post engagement details it also lets you keep a track of hashtags used.
My favourite feature in this tab is the check spam followers/following feature which shows you the percentage of spam followers you have or a certain public account might have. All this info can easily be downloaded in a zip file as well.
4. Analytics
Analytics is a feature that will be very useful to you to track how many followers you gain every day and how many you lose. You can manually check the number or enable automatic check. This scans your Instagram account at regular intervals and presents to you a list of new follows and un-followers. This list like format makes it easy for you to check the follower’s profile. You also have an indication for private/public and verified/unverified profiles.
This tab is hence great to engage with the users who have unfollowed or followed using the direct message option, which automatically pops up when you hover over any user.
Table Diff and a Sweet Little Trick
Here’s a quick comparison between the features that mostly come in use and how do both creator studio and INSSIST compare. To be frank, since INSSIST uses Instagrams API and we’ve seen several services like these go down before after a short run. However, it does provide a great package of features that gives you an upper hand over creator studio.
INSSIST also allows you to download pictures and videos by hovering over the post
| Post Photo | Post Video | Post Story | Public Account Insights | Edit Profile | Daily Unfollow Count | Hashtag Suggestions | Download posts | Custom Thumbnail | |
| Creator Studio | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| INSSIST | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Closing Remarks
Well, in my opinion this extension is worth the try. It hasn’t ever failed me and have tons of extra featues over any other option currently available. I also feel that if you’re a creator or someone who posts on Instagram frequently, getting the pro version for $5 gives you many added features such as advance DM filters, bulk scheduling, zen mode, unlimited insights. So, what are you waiting for? Try it out now!
