Honestly, sometimes I want to check someone's Instagram story without anyone knowing. I've been looking for ways, and here’s what really works.

The simplest option is a second account. Create a fake profile with a different name and follow the person you’re interested in. Then view their stories from this account — no one will notice. It works for both private and public profiles if they’ve accepted you.

There’s also airplane mode. Download the stories, turn on airplane mode on your phone, watch them — and Instagram often doesn’t register the view. But honestly, it’s unreliable. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You need to close the app completely before reconnecting to the internet.

Online viewers are another option, but only for public profiles. Enter the username, view stories without logging into an account. Some even let you download stories if you want to save something. The main thing — don’t enter your password, choose trusted services.

By the way, if you download someone’s stories, remember about ethics. It’s personal, and sharing without permission is disrespectful. Watching anonymously is one thing, but spreading the content is completely different. Respect people’s privacy as you would want yours to be respected.