Free Instagram Downloader

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on August 29, 2012

Raise your hand if you think Instagram makes it almost too easy to share your photos. The hand without the phone! Too late: snapped, sent, and shared. All that remains is for millions of friends to download it. That could happen more easily than you'd think if they have Free Instagram Downloader from iWesoft. This free app makes it easy to download snapshots and other images shared on Instagram. All you need is the user's name.

We installed and opened Free Instagram Downloader, which has a simple and attractive interface that features an Office-style ribbon toolbar with three tabs: File, Home, and Help. The Home tab's controls bear self-explanatory labels, beginning with Input User Name and continuing through Download All, Download Selected Photo, Open in WebBrowser, and Export the List. The File menu expands to show icons as well as menu entries, including a Web-based Help feature offering screenshots and step-by-step instructions that, together with the self-explanatory commands, make Free Instagram Downloader very easy to start using.

Basically, there are just three steps: 1. Enter the name of the Instagram user whose photos you wish to download; 2. Click "Download All" or "Download Selected Photo," as appropriate; and 3. Wait a while. Obviously, network connections and Instagram's servers will affect download speeds, as will the size of the photos and the batch, but it's bound to be no slower and a whole lot easier than doing it manually.

And so it proved. Even though we downloaded fairly small batches, Free Instagram Downloader took care of business, saving the photos to our specified destination. The easiest way is to just click the main window and enter the name in a pop-up. Free Instagram Downloader tracks its progress, but there's no need to keep your eye on the program while it's working; when it's done, the destination folder pops up on your desktop, ready for viewing, resizing, or renaming the contents. It can export photo URLs to a text file for further use, too. Free Instagram Downloader is great for sharing more than your snapshots with your friends, too; for example, one can see how it could aid teamwork.