How To Save Someone Else's Instagram Story To Your Phone

Picture this: It's Wednesday morning. Your best friend, who lives 1,800 miles away from you, posts a clip to their Instagram Story of their son singing "Backpack, Backpack" over and over again because they watch Dora The Explorer every day. You think it's adorable, and want to save it, but don't know how. Well, if you're an iPhone user, there's an easy way for you to save someone else's Instagram Story, and it's pretty neat.

If you've updated your iPhone to the latest iOS 11 software, then you may already know that you're able to record your iPhone screen, according to The Sun. And using this built-in feature is one way you can save someone else's Instagram Story. First, head to over to the Settings app. Under Settings, find the Control Center, where you'll click on Customize Controls. When you scroll down, you will see the option to screen record. Tap the "+" icon that appears next to Screen Recording. Now, when you swipe up to see your flashlight, music control, and screen brightness control, there will also be a record button. It's a circle with a dot in the middle of it.

Once you press that record button, you'll have a three-second countdown before recording starts, according to The Sun. In those three seconds, open the Instagram Story of your choosing. Once you're done, stop the recording by swiping up to the Control Center and tapping the record button again. Your finish product should be in your Photos app, and you can edit it from there.

If you have an Android phone, though, saving someone else's Instagram is going to take a bit more work. Of course, you can take an easy screenshot, depending on your phone model (I have a Samsung 8 device, so a swipe of my hand does the trick). Screen recording, not so easy. Android users would have to download a third-party app in order to gain the ability to screen record, according to Digital Trends. And there are a few options on the market, as per Android Authority, so you'd have to decide the best one for you, which could mean installing and uninstalling different apps until the golden one is found.

If you're an iPhone user, you can also download an app to save someone else's Instagram story if you don't want to use the screen record option built into your phone. You can install the free IG Live app, which allows you to search for an Instagram user and download any of their available Stories or posts, according to The Unlockr.

You might remember the uproar Instagram caused when they introduced a feature that would notify users when someone screen recorded or took a screenshot of their Instagram Story, as Newsweek reported.

Here's the lowdown: Before last winter, Instagram users could take all the screenshots and screen recordings their hearts desired. But the social media platform began testing a new notification feature — which is already part of rival Snapchat — back in February of 2018, Newsweek reported. As part of the test, the user who captured the screenshot or recording of someone else's Instagram Story would receive a pop up that let them know the other person would find out about it.

"Instagram didn't actually send a message or notification to users whose stories were screenshotted or recorded," Tech Junkie reported.

"Rather, the star icon would appear next to users who had taken a screenshot of a post or Story in the "Seen By" list for that posting."

An Instagram spokesperson told Newsweek at the time:

We are always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and make it easier to share any moment with the people who matter to you.

Instagram put the notification tool on hold, but only for Instagram Stories, according to Refinery29. An Instagram spokesperson told R29 that the company paused the feature as "we continue to iterate and understand what will provide the best Instagram experience for our community."

Users will still be notified if a screenshot or screen recording was made of a photo or video sent via Direct messaging, though, Refinery29 reported. You can game the system by turning on airplane mode after you receive the message, screen shot or screen record, shut down the app, then turn airplane mode off, according to R29. But don't do that. That's just creepy, rude, and an invasion of privacy.

And it's always important to remember that nothing on the internet is ever guaranteed to be truly, 100% private. As Buzzfeed reported in September, a hack which works on both Instagram and Facebook stories and Facebook content makes it super easy to publicly share "private" content: "A user simply inspects the images and videos that are being loaded on the page and then pulls out the source URL. This public URL can then be shared with people who are not logged in to Instagram or do not follow that private user."

Of course, that's not something you should ever do (because, again, it's creepy, rude, and an invasion of privacy). But it's something you should have in the back of your head at all times when you're posting potentially sensitive content.