Disabling Instagram From Saving Pictures to a Phone

The Instagram app works very similarly on iPhones and Android phones. When it comes to saving the items you shoot with the Instagram camera to the phone, though, there are a few differences. Saving Instagram photos and videos is optional on iPhones and compulsory on Android devices. Hence, you can prevent an iPhone, but not an Android phone, from automatically saving Instagram photos.

Tap open the Instagram app on your iPhone. Tap its “Profile” icon on the lower right, followed by the gear symbol on the upper right. Scroll down to the Preferences section. Toggle the “Save Original Photos” switch to “Off.”

The photos and videos you shoot with the Instagram camera on your Android phone automatically appear into an album called “Camera shots” in your photo gallery. The same applies to photos you upload to Instagram. As of January 2014, there’s no way to disable this feature.