Apps review
Meta's photo and video sharing social network, with Reels and Stories.
As of Aug 3, 2026, Instagram is rated 4.7/5 on App Store (29,335,621 ratings).
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Is Instagram worth it in 2026?
A 4.7 from nearly 30 million iTunes ratings is genuinely impressive, and for most users it reflects a real experience: Instagram delivers on sharing photos, staying connected with friends, and finding a creative audience. But the complaints cluster around problems that matter: account hacking with no path to a real human for recovery, content moderation that routinely ignores reported violations, and algorithm and feed changes that frustrate users who want to see posts from people they actually chose to follow. For casual users, these are tolerable friction points. For artists and photographers who depend on the platform to reach an audience they built, the non-chronological feed and algorithmic unpredictability make growth unreliable at best. It's free, which lowers the stakes considerably, but that advantage shrinks fast if your account is compromised and automated support is the only wall standing between you and permanent lockout.
Casual social users who want to share photos and stay connected with existing friends, and aren't dependent on the platform for audience growth or income.
Account recovery after a hack runs entirely through automated systems with no access to a real support person, leaving you potentially locked out with no clear resolution path; content moderation is also inconsistently enforced, with reported violations frequently dismissed without action.
AI-generated editorial synthesis of the source scores and sampled review themes, not a hands-on test. Reviewer experiences and allegations are not independently verified facts.
Pros
- useful sharing capability2
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- Why can't I have larger photos? Why no zooming? The filters are useless. As a photographer I like the concept, but not the implementation. Update: I still use it. The sharing capab...
- I didn’t have any social media until a few years ago, and when I finally decided to do so, Instagram was the first app I downloaded. I love how the app works in allowing us to shar...
- creative expression platform2
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- I love being able to share my art with my followers but with all these terrible new updates it’s so hard to get new followers and nobody even sees my art anymore. Plus, now that yo...
- Hi instagram! I enjoy your app with reels and such, but there are many aspects that make me want to bring my time and hard work to other apps. I am an artist, and I’m sure someone...
- friend connection2
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- I’ve use this app for over five years and I can safely say it is a very useful app compared to all other forms of social media. But if there is one thing that constantly irritates...
- I didn’t have any social media until a few years ago, and when I finally decided to do so, Instagram was the first app I downloaded. I love how the app works in allowing us to shar...
Cons
- account access problems5
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- I wouldn’t be writing this review, if I had been capable of talking to actual person! In the middle of the night, while I was asleep, someone succeeded at hacking into one of my In...
- Instagram is a really good app I really enjoy it and I wish I could have it right now but, sadly a month ago I lost my acc because I logged out to see if it would let me log back i...
- I have paid to verify both my instagram and my Facebook. When I go through the identification process it stops me at the two factor authentication. I have this both enabled on my F...
- inadequate content moderation4
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- So there are MANY nsfw accounts on instagram....if you report it for sexual pornography it will say "we reviewed your report and found that it done not violate our community guidel...
- When this app came out years ago I absolutely loved it. I loved being able to share photos and see my friends shared photos I also loved the pages that shared cute animals and beau...
- The only time the videos lag or glitch is if I have bad internet or if I haven’t been on in a while. If I take a break & then come back after maybe a day or two, it’ll lag & freeze...
- unwanted algorithm changes4
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- I had Instagram in the past and then deleted my old account. I made a new one recently and it has been a total nightmare. Worst app ever. I have to blame the new updates that try t...
- I honestly don’t even know what’s going on with all of theses unnecessary updates for Instagram and one of them is Reel. First off, you just absolutely replaced the explore page wi...
- I love being able to share my art with my followers but with all these terrible new updates it’s so hard to get new followers and nobody even sees my art anymore. Plus, now that yo...
- app update failures3
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- I really love Instagram but it won’t let me update it. I’ve tried restarting my phone going into settings, googling it, deleting the app and downloading it. Logging out. Logging ba...
- Dear Instagram, i don't wanna be mean but I have had an issue with your the update that has been around for a while now, i never received the notes update. I have not received thi...
- I love Instagram, it’s my go-to social media and it’s the one I’m most comfortable using. However, this morning after updating, certain posts refuse to load, and most of them are t...
- content loading issues3
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- I’ve use this app for over five years and I can safely say it is a very useful app compared to all other forms of social media. But if there is one thing that constantly irritates...
- I love Instagram, it’s my go-to social media and it’s the one I’m most comfortable using. However, this morning after updating, certain posts refuse to load, and most of them are t...
- The only time the videos lag or glitch is if I have bad internet or if I haven’t been on in a while. If I take a break & then come back after maybe a day or two, it’ll lag & freeze...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 40 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 29.3M ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.
Rated near Instagram
Closest scores in apps, on the same source.