Official LastFollow guide

How LastFollow works

Last updated: September 12, 2026

LastFollow keeps watch on one Instagram account for you. You pick the account, LastFollow checks it once a day at an hour you choose, and when the follower or following list changes it tells you who joined and who left. This page explains the whole mechanism: where the check runs, how a name is verified before you ever see it, and what the app deliberately will not do.

Why the answer can be trusted

The result comes from comparison. LastFollow keeps the list it read yesterday, reads the list again today, and the difference between the two is the report: these accounts are new, these are gone. It is an exact, name-by-name comparison of two readings — that is the entire method, and it is why the answer holds up.

There is one thing that can spoil a comparison: Instagram sometimes returns a long list with people missing from it. Someone missing from today's reading looks exactly like someone who left. So LastFollow does not accept the first answer as final. Every name the comparison produces is checked again with a separate, direct lookup before it reaches you, and a name that second lookup cannot confirm is never shown.

That is a trade the app makes on purpose. When LastFollow is not certain, it says nothing rather than name the wrong person. Occasionally you will learn about a change a day later than you might have. You will not be told that a friend unfollowed you when they did not.

1. Pick an account and tap Track

Install LastFollow: Profile Tracker from the App Store, search for the username you want to keep an eye on, and tap Track. For a public account that is the entire setup — no Instagram account, no password, no sign-in of any kind. LastFollow reads the same public information any visitor could open for themselves.

2. LastFollow checks the account once a day, at the hour you choose

You pick the hour. The check then runs on LastFollow's own servers at that time in your device's local time, and it moves with you if you change time zone. You do not have to open the app, keep it running, or remember to check anything.

When something has changed, a push notification goes out at that hour with the names. When nothing has changed, the app says so as well, so a quiet day is never ambiguous. This is one check per day — a considered daily report rather than a live feed.

3. The first real report arrives after the second check

A comparison needs two points. The first check is a baseline: it records the list as it stands and has nothing yet to measure it against. The first real report comes with the check that follows it — the next day, at the hour you chose. If your first screen looks empty, nothing is broken; the baseline is waiting for its second reading.

Lists up to 1,000 people are tracked name by name

Up to 1,000 followers or followings, LastFollow tracks the list person by person. You see the current list, and after each check you see exactly who joined and who left.

Above 1,000 people, tracking switches to counting. No names are collected; the app records the daily total and draws its rise and fall as a chart with 90 days of history. You can see that an account lost forty followers on a Tuesday — and the app tells you plainly that it cannot say which forty, rather than guessing.

Private accounts work a different way

Instagram shows a private account's lists only to the people who follow it, and LastFollow's servers are not among them. Your own account can be, though. So for a private account the reading happens on your phone: you connect your Instagram account, and each time you open the app it reads the list with your own session and compares it on the device. The list of people is not uploaded to LastFollow's servers.

The consequence needs saying plainly: for a private account there is no automatic daily check and no automatic notification. The comparison runs when you open the app.

Your own account

Your own follower and following lists are read with your Instagram session when you open the app, on the device, and they are not sent to LastFollow's servers. There is no size limit here, and your own account does not use up a tracking allowance. What you see is the list as it stands at that moment; the daily check and its notifications apply to the accounts you actively track.

How many accounts you can track at once

One public account and one private account at a time. They are counted separately because they work differently: the public check runs on our servers every day, while the private one runs through your own Instagram session when you open the app. Your own account counts against neither allowance, and re-opening a profile you already track does not use another one.

What LastFollow can and cannot do

Privacy and safety

LastFollow is read-only, the person being tracked is never notified, and the daily check reads only public information.

Where the data sits depends on which of the three cases you are in, and it is worth being exact about it. A public account's list is read and stored on LastFollow's servers — that is what makes an unattended daily check possible at all. Because the stored snapshot belongs to the profile rather than to you, ten people tracking the same account cause one scan, not ten. A private account's list and your own account's list are read on your iPhone with your own Instagram session and are not uploaded; for private tracking the server keeps only a summary — how many people, when it was read, how large the last change was.

Signing in, where it is needed at all, happens on Instagram's own screen: LastFollow never receives your password, and your Instagram session stays in the device Keychain. The account the app creates for you is anonymous — no email, no phone number, no name. You can remove everything from Settings → Delete my account and data, and the privacy policy sets out exactly what is and is not processed.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an Instagram account to use LastFollow?

Not for a public account. You search the username, tap Track, and the daily check runs with no sign-in at all. You connect Instagram only for two things: reading your own lists, and tracking a private account you already follow. That sign-in happens on Instagram’s own login screen and LastFollow never sees your password.

Why is my first report empty?

Because the first check is a baseline. It records the list as it stands, and there is nothing yet to compare it with. The first real report arrives with the next day’s check, at the hour you chose.

Does it work with private accounts?

Yes, if you already follow the account and you connect your Instagram account. The list is then read on your phone with your own session, up to 500 people, one list per profile. There is no automatic daily check and no notification for a private account — the comparison runs when you open the app.

Will the person I track know?

No. The daily check reads only public information, nothing is sent to the account being tracked, and LastFollow never posts, follows or likes on anyone’s behalf.

Is there an Android version?

LastFollow is currently iPhone-only and distributed through the Apple App Store. Using the official App Store listing is the only supported way to install it.

Read more

Official app details

LastFollow is not affiliated with Instagram, Meta or websites using similar names. For the official iPhone app, use the App Store link from lastfollow.app.