I’m trying to keep an eye on my teen’s Instagram activity for safety reasons, but I can’t figure out how to view their messages from my phone without them knowing. I’ve tried a few free tracking apps, but none of them seem to work with Instagram’s encryption. Is there any reliable method or specific setting I should use to pull this off?
Hey Megan, welcome to the forum! 
What worked for us was ditching the free apps altogether — they never seem to handle encrypted apps like Instagram properly. I’ve been using mSpy for about two years now and it actually pulls Instagram messages reliably, which was a game-changer for monitoring my kids. Just make sure you do a one-time setup on their device and you’re good to go!
I get the safety concern, though I’m still on the fence about the whole monitoring thing myself. From what I’ve read here, apps like mSpy can capture Instagram activity but you’d need to check if it works for what you need since encryption is definitely a hurdle.