jean-voila/FeurStagram

What it is

Feurstagram is a patch for the official Instagram Android app that removes the Home feed, Reels, Explore, suggested accounts and ads, while leaving Direct Messages, stories, search, notifications, profiles and deep links working. It is aimed at people who still need Instagram's messaging and social features but want to avoid endless scrolling and recommendation surfaces.

Unlike WebView wrappers, it modifies the real Instagram APK, and unlike accessibility-service blockers, it blocks network requests and filters feed payloads before the interface draws them. Patches locate injection points by stable fingerprints (class names, strings, method shapes) instead of obfuscated names, so a new Instagram version usually only needs a rebuild.

Quick start

Two routes are documented:

1. Install a prebuilt APK — download the latest patched APK from the releases page and install it on Android. This is a re-signed build installed outside the Play Store; Android may show installation warnings.

2. Build and patch yourself — install JDK 21 and the Android SDK (ANDROID_HOME set, build-tools installed), and put a GitHub token with read:packages in ~/.gradle/gradle.properties:

   gpr.user=<your-github-username>
   gpr.key=<token-with-read:packages>
   

   Download an Instagram APK (arm64-v8a recommended), then run:

   ./build.sh instagram.apk
   

   Add --clone to install alongside stock Instagram under a separate package, and --install to push to a connected device:

   ./build.sh instagram.apk --clone --install
   

   The signed output is written to feurstagram.apk. Set FEURSTAGRAM_KEYSTORE_PASS (and optionally FEURSTAGRAM_KEY_PASS) to sign with feurstagram.keystore; otherwise a throwaway keystore is generated. Reuse the same keystore to update in place. The installation guide and build-from-source guide carry the full steps.

After installing, open the app, long-press the Home tab (or the first icon if Home is hidden) to open the Feurstagram settings page. Blocks are individual runtime toggles; changed settings can only be left by restarting, which clears the cache and relaunches so a change cannot remain half-applied.

What stays and what is blocked

Direct Messages, profiles, Reels inside DMs, search, notifications and deep links keep working. Home feed, Explore, Reels surfaces, suggested accounts and ads are blocked by default and can each be toggled; analytics/telemetry and shopping preloads are always blocked. A softer "Following feed only" option rewrites the feed request so the Home feed returns only chronological posts from accounts you follow. Hiding Home moves the settings gesture and the cold-start landing page to the first visible tab.

Known constraints

• Android only; it patches the official Instagram APK, so it requires that APK and a working JDK 21/Android SDK toolchain for DIY builds.
• It is unofficial and not affiliated with Instagram or Meta; a modified client may violate Instagram's terms of service.
• The build is re-signed and installed outside the Play Store, so Android reports installation warnings.
• Network rules match URI paths with String.contains(); Instagram changes URL shapes over time, and rules in Block.java may need adjusting when a block stops matching.
• The permanent lock freezes currently-blocked surfaces for the installation: stricter settings remain possible, but relaxing a frozen block requires reinstalling.
• Licensed GPL-3.0.

HotRepo's take

On 2026-11-02 the project appeared on the Java daily list at position 18 with 1,154 stars and 69 forks, gaining 10 stars that day. That date is the only recorded snapshot, so the single-day figure describes that day's ranking rather than a trend. The README is unusually detailed about patch mechanics and blocked paths, which supports inspecting or rebuilding the modifications, but the primary distribution is still a re-signed third-party APK, so users should weigh the inspectable source against the practical trust question of who built the binary.