How to find and watch live on Instagram

Actively developing Instagram application used to share photos and videos today at the peak of popularity. With each update, users are offered more and more opportunities, thanks to which the social network is already global in scope. The implementation of the live broadcast function further fueled the public interest. In fact, this is an online video with the possibility of commenting, which can also be saved. Thanks to this opportunity, celebrities, businessmen, bloggers, as well as ordinary users can conduct live-broadcasts, pursuing various goals (for example, communication with fans, live advertising, informing subscribers about the company's work, services and other moments). Mere mortals can now reach out to the stars, having a little peeped over someone else’s life via Instagram. But people whose accounts were created in support of their professional activities have new opportunities to increase interest in their person, product, etc.

Watch the broadcast on Instagram.

The idea, by the way, is not new, such functionality has already been implemented in Facebook and Periskope, however, the new function in Instagram that appeared in early 2017 attracted everyone’s attention and was warmly received by the public. So now live Instagram broadcasts are trend number one. To attract the attention of the audience can everyone. At the same time, the live broadcasts of Instagram profile owners are not always meaningful, so do not be surprised if the host broadcasts behave strangely, inappropriate behavior is not a rare phenomenon. Since the function is available to everyone, in a fit of frantic desire to speak out and express themselves, users sometimes forget about decency. Basically, nevertheless, thematic broadcasts are created with a specific purpose, be it business engagement, contact with subscribers, training, etc., or maybe the broadcaster just wanted to share his thoughts on any matter. Not all users know how to find and watch a live broadcast on Instagram, it is with this issue we will understand.

How to find live on Instagram

Broadcasts are displayed on the top panel above the news feed, where the stories are. So, if the user you are subscribed to is now live, then a miniature of his account will be circled with a colored ring, and the corresponding caption “Live” will appear under it. You can join the viewing from the profile of the person who records video online (at the bottom of the user's avatar, the standard button in the form of the “Play” triangle will be available). Save the content to devices for subsequent publication or other purposes can only be the user who organized the shooting, for viewers this function is not available, so someone else's saved broadcasts can be viewed when the owner of the profile puts them on his page. In this case, the top of the recording will indicate when this broadcast was conducted.

Popular live broadcasts on Instagram can be viewed from the main search page. In this video is available in the recommendations, if it is viewed by more than 500 users. Receive notifications about the start of the broadcast can be subject to subscription to the profile. Thus, the organization of communication with subscribers is more effective. The profile owner also has the opportunity to hide the broadcast from certain persons, specifying them in the settings, since whatever the goal is to broadcast (to increase the number of subscribers, to inform about something, etc.), different personalities can join it, including undesirable.

How to watch from the phone

You can connect to the broadcast at any time of the broadcast, do not have to go at the beginning, and also view the recorded live broadcast of a friend if he posted it on his Instagram page. A confident user doesn’t have any questions how to do it, but many users have just started pulling themselves up into the ranks of Instagram fans and have not yet had time to navigate. It is very simple to watch the broadcast from an iOS or Android phone:

  • First you need to open the application on your smartphone, and log in.
  • We see miniatures above the publication tape, select the desired profile (in a colored circle with the words “Live broadcast”) or find a popular broadcast in the search. If you are not subscribed to the user whose broadcast you want to watch, you can find him in the search, then click on the main photo (avatar) to connect to the live broadcast (the owner will see the joined users).

In the process of viewing, you can leave comments in the commenting field below, click likes, and if you do not keep up with the unfolding events on the air, you can rewind the chat.

How to watch from a computer

The web version of Instagram has limited functionality, therefore, in order to watch the live broadcast on your computer, you will need to install additional tools. There will be no problems with this, the necessary software is available on the official resources (in the app store, on the developer’s website). Provide conditions for the opportunity to watch live on the social network Instagram from a computer by the following means:

  • Android emulator.
  • Instagram app.
  • Browser extension.

Android emulator

We will emulate the Android environment on a computer in order to launch a mobile application using the popular BlueStacks application. In the presence of an emulator, launching it, you get the opportunity to work in the same way as if you were using a smartphone, including downloading and using mobile software. First, you need to install the Android simulator into the system by downloading the distribution package from the official developer site. Standard procedure - download, choose the installation path, accept the terms of the agreement, after which the installation is performed automatically. Next, perform the following actions:

  • We start BlueStacks. When you first start, you will have to wait a bit until the program performs a system scan and applies the appropriate settings.
  • Upon completion of the configuration process, you need to log in to your Google account.
  • After logging in, go to the tab "Application Center", where we will have access to any Android applications. In the search box on the right we drive in an Instagram request.
  • Among the results, select the first official Instagram client in the list and install it by clicking the corresponding button, after installing the software, it will appear in the “My Applications” tab.
  • We click on the Instagram icon, after launch we enter the authorization data of our profile.
  • Now, you can watch live programs on Instagram through a computer in the same way as on a smartphone. At the top of the interface, thumbnails of friends are available, and those that broadcast will be marked. We select the broadcast by clicking on the avatar.

Instagram app for Windows 10

For earlier versions of the Windows operating system, for example, if you have the “Seven”, this method will not work. We use it in the case when there is a “Ten” on the computer. To watch live on Instagram from a computer, do the following:

  • Install the application from the Microsoft store.
  • Run the software, enter the profile authorization data (if absent, create it).
  • Now stories will be available at the top of the interface. If the user starts the broadcast, the thumbnail of his profile is indicated by the “Live” icon and you can join the broadcast viewing.

Browser Extension

Another way to watch live broadcasts on Instagram involves installing a special Chrome IG Story add-on for the Google Chrome browser, for which we perform the following steps:

  • In browser Chrome go to the store extensions.
  • In the left block in the search bar for the store, enter the query Chrome IG Story.
  • Select the desired addition from the list of results and install it by pressing the appropriate button, confirming the action.
  • After installation, the extension will be available in the browser section (three points in the upper right-hand corner of the interface, select “Additional Tools” - “Extensions”), where you can manage all installed add-ons (enable, disable, delete).
  • Click on the extension icon, which will open a window with user stories, click “Explore” to go to the broadcasts, live broadcasts will be available here. To join the viewing, simply click on the desired broadcast.

Search for broadcasts is possible by name, tag or geolocation. In addition to access to live broadcasts, you will also have the opportunity to download user stories to your computer.

How to watch Instagram live anonymously

The user who created the broadcast can only see the number of viewers. One can see who is specifically present only by comments and likes, as well as when a person has just joined. If you do not want to show your presence, act as an observer, just watch the broadcast, without commenting or pressing hearts. However, many do not want to show even their appearance for a short time. Anonymously, you can use one effective spyware method, which does not even need to register your Instagram profile, to watch story or live stream on Instagram anonymously. We need only the Telegram messenger installed on the device. It is interesting, including the fact that it allows the use of functional bots for various purposes. So, to view the stories and live broadcasts incognito, we will use the IgSpyBot bot built into Telegram:

  • Open the messenger, go through the authorization of the account (create a profile if you do not have it) and go to "Contacts".
  • In the search line, enter the address of the @igspybot bot, select it when it appears in the results and add it to the contacts.
  • Run the bot in the dialog window with it.
  • We send the bot a message, the content of which will be @ the nickname of the user, whose broadcast, story, etc. will be viewed. We put the dog in front of the name, we send it.
  • In the menu that appears, select the user's broadcasts and the desired broadcast from the available ones in the list.
  • We are waiting for content download, after which we can view or download to the device.

Live broadcasts on the network are already far from being new, and watching the broadcasts, as well as creating them is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. After reading the detailed instructions on how to do this, questions do not arise even among inexperienced users.