[ Local-First Privacy Controls · v1.4.26 ]

Browse without
being Seen.

Q: Does it work in the Instagram or Facebook mobile app?

No. Stay Unseen works in supported websites opened in Chrome, Edge or Firefox. It cannot reach native iOS or Android apps.

Q: What does it store, and does any of it leave my machine?

Settings, counters and a short diagnostic log stay in browser storage, with message text removed. Pro activation sends only the licence key and installation identifiers to the licence service; browsing content is not sent.

WhatsApp Web
Instagram
Facebook
Messenger
Threads

Control read receipts, story views and typing indicators across WhatsApp Web, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and Threads. Core protection is free; Lifetime Pro unlocks WhatsApp, Threads and the 1-click HD media downloader.

Add to Chrome Inspect the architecture

100% local interception
Zero telemetry & tracking
One-time lifetime key

The problem

You only looked. They were told anyway.

Three signals leak the moment you open a thread or tap a story. Stay Unseen drops each one before it ever leaves the tab.

Signal 01 story_seen

Your name never joins the viewer list.

The story still opens and plays to the end. The write that would add you to the viewer list is dropped before it leaves the tab — the count stays 214 → 213.

Instagram stories Facebook stories Reels

sent without it view dropped

Signal 02 mark_as_read

Delivered. Never Seen.

Open a DM and read it — take as long as you like. Their side still says Delivered, and the thread stays unread for you too.

Instagram DMs Messenger

Seen 21:04 read receipt dropped

Signal 03 typing_indicator

Write it. Rewrite it. No dots.

Every keystroke can fire a write, over ordinary requests and websocket frames alike. Both routes meet the same wall, so nothing bubbles up while you think.

Instagram typing Messenger typing

typing… both routes dropped

Interactive telemetry

Watch the requests die inside the sandbox.

Three live artifacts from the extension's own filtering pipeline: the intercepted payloads, the running block counter, and the ghost chat your contacts actually see.

DevTools › Network › Stay Unseen filter LIVE

MethodStatusEndpoint

DROPPED 0 ALLOWED 0 200 OK spoofed · body {"data":{},"status":"ok"}

Packet counter

0 blocked total

Story & reel views 0

Read receipts 0

Typing indicators 0

counting on this device only · 847

Ghost simulator

Same conversation, two realities

1:1 with Lena encrypted

What you see

Are you around? Sent the mockups 👀

Just looked them over — love it

Delivered · Seen 21:04

typing…

What they see

Are you around? Sent the mockups 👀

Just looked them over — love it

Delivered · Seen never sent

no typing bubble — indicator suppressed

The thread still renders for you. The receipts, views and keystroke state are filtered before they reach Meta's edge.

Under the hood

Two layers, because one is not enough.

Some signals are their own request, so the browser can refuse them outright. Others hide inside a batched call or a websocket frame, where a URL rule cannot see them — those are caught in the page instead.

story_seen mark_as_read typing passed through amber = left the machine

The page

instagram.com

facebook.com

messenger.com

tries to report what you did

01 02 story_seen mark_as_read graphql · typing ws.send · typing seen_state send_message

Their servers

only ever hear about things you chose to do

story_seen dropped · L1

mark_as_read dropped · L1

graphql · typing dropped · L2

ws.send · typing dropped · L2

send_message passed through

Layer 01 · network

declarativeNetRequest

The browser enforces the rule itself, so the matching request is never made — nothing leaves the machine.

Layer 02 · in the page

fetch · XHR · WebSocket.send

Runs at document start, before the site's own code, and catches what is buried inside a batched call or a socket frame.

Passed through: your own messages, likes and replies are on neither list — they walk straight through both walls.

Privacy

Your browsing stays private by design.

Protection runs in your browser. Settings, counters and redacted diagnostics stay local. If you activate Pro, the licence service receives only your key and installation identifiers—not your messages, browsing history or social content.

your machine licence check only

no browsing content transmitted

Kept on your device

your feature and site settings
a blocked count per feature
a short local log, message text removed

What it never does

No social account sign-inCore protection works immediately.
No analytics or telemetryNothing is counted anywhere but here.
No remote codeEvery pattern ships inside the package.
No browsing-history collectionAccess is limited to the supported web apps.
Nothing sold or used for advertisingLicence data is used only to validate Pro access.

Before you install

What it cannot do.

The film spends most of its time making claims, so here is the part most products leave out.

Sending still notifies

A message, reaction or story reply is something you chose to send. The other person is told.

Online status is untouched

It does not hide your active indicator. That is a different thing, and this is not it.

The past stays reported

Views already sent before you installed it cannot be withdrawn by anyone.

An independent project — not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta. Everything else, it holds.

Control matrix

Core protections start on. Every signal stays under your control.

Each supported signal has a clear control and the core protections start enabled. Flip one off and that signal behaves normally again straight away: no reload, no restart. Flip it back and it stops. Instagram, Facebook and Messenger are free; the WhatsApp Web and Threads cards unlock with Lifetime Pro. The last row is cosmetic only.

Instagram

3 modules

DM read receipts

Blocks /direct_v2/.../seen/

ENFORCING

Story & reel views

Neutralises StoriesV3SeenMutation

ENFORCING

Typing indicators

Drops broadcast/typing frames

ENFORCING

Facebook & Messenger

3 modules

Messenger seen

Blocks change_read_status

ENFORCING

Facebook story views

Cancels mark_story_seen

ENFORCING

Messenger typing

Strips orca_typing_notifications

ENFORCING

WhatsApp Web

Pro 3 modules

Blue ticks

Holds sendSeen and sendChatSeen

ENFORCING

Typing & recording

Drops sendChatState* frames

ENFORCING

Status views

Cancels markStatusRead

ENFORCING

Threads

Pro 2 modules

Presence & seen status

Cancels mark_seen and /presence writes

ENFORCING

Typing indicator

Drops indicate_activity

ENFORCING

Keep unread markers

Keeps inbox rows visually unread so your UI never hints that a thread was opened.

ENFORCING

Lifetime Pro tools

Save the media. See who follows back.

The protections above keep you invisible. The Pro tools work on top of the page you already have open: media downloads, an Instagram follower badge, Mark Seen and the floating status pill. Each control appears on the thing it acts on and stays inside the tab that is showing it.

Media downloader

Pro

A save control appears on the media you are already watching — the reel or feed video, the story slide, the voice note. Nothing is fetched twice and nothing is re-encoded: you get the stream the player has open, at the quality it is streaming.

Reels and post videos save as MP4, including the reels whose audio and video arrive as separate streams.
Story slides save as MP4 or JPG — the slide on screen, not the first one in the tray.
Voice notes save as audio from the chat or story playing them.

Instagram, Facebook and Messenger · one item at a time, the one on screen

Instagram follow status

Pro

Open a profile and a badge says where you stand with that account. The answer comes from the relationship the page has already loaded — you do not have to open their followers list and hunt for your own name.

@lena 4.1k followers Follows you

@karl 812 followers Doesn’t follow you

@mia private account Unknown

No trace either way

Opening a profile to check is ordinary browsing: nothing is posted, no notification is raised, and the account you looked at is not told that you checked.

Three answers, never a guess · a refused lookup reads unknown, not “no”

Mark Seen

Turn one conversation read on purpose. The receipt is sent for the chat in front of you, once, instead of leaking from every thread you open.

Floating status pill

A small Stay Unseen pill rides along on supported pages, so you can tell at a glance that filtering is live rather than guessing from the site's own chrome.

Timed pause

Stand down for 15 minutes, an hour or a day when you do want to be seen. The countdown is visible and protection returns on its own.

Simple plans

Start free. Upgrade once.

The core protections remain free. Lifetime Pro adds more supported apps and tools with one payment and no recurring subscription.

Free core

Everyday protection

$0 free to install · forever

The essentials for Meta messaging and stories in supported desktop browsers.

Instagram privacy controls
Facebook and Messenger protection
Keep unread markers, local counters and redacted diagnostics

Choose your browser

Lifetime Pro

More apps, more tools

$9.99 one-time payment · no subscription

Unlock WhatsApp Web, Threads and the on-page tools on up to three devices.

Everything in the free core
WhatsApp Web and Threads support
Reel, post, story and voice-note downloads
Instagram follow status, Mark Seen and the status pill
Timed pause, per-chat privacy and the activity telemetry

Get Lifetime Pro — $9.99

NO SUBSCRIPTIONUP TO 3 DEVICESLOCAL-FIRSTCHROME · EDGE · FIREFOX

FAQ

Questions, answered plainly.

The things people ask before installing. If something is missing, these go deeper:

Watch the tutorial Set up in about a minute Privacy policy Every field it stores Changelog What changed in 1.4.26 Pro tools Downloads, follow status, Mark Seen

Basics Is Stay Unseen free?

The core Instagram, Facebook and Messenger protections are free. Lifetime Pro is a one-time purchase that unlocks WhatsApp Web, Threads and the on-page tools — media downloads, the Instagram follow status badge, Mark Seen, the status pill, timed pause and the activity telemetry — on up to three devices. There is no subscription.

Pro tools Can I save reels, posts and stories with it?

Yes, with Lifetime Pro. A save control appears on the reel, post video, story slide or voice note you are already watching, and the file lands in your browser's usual Downloads at the quality the player is streaming — nothing is re-encoded. In a story it resolves the slide actually on screen rather than the first one in the tray. It saves the single item in front of you: there is no bulk profile export and nothing is crawled.

Pro tools How does the Instagram follow status badge work?

Open a profile and the badge reports the relationship that page already loaded in your own session: following you back, not following you, or your own profile. It reads what your logged-in browser can already see rather than crawling followers. If the lookup is refused, the badge says unknown instead of claiming that someone does not follow you.

Compatibility Does it work in the Instagram or Facebook mobile app?

No. Stay Unseen works on supported websites opened in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. It cannot reach native iOS or Android apps.

Trust Will it get my account blocked or banned?

Stay Unseen does not log in for you, automate anything, or scrape your account. It filters specific outgoing reports inside your own browser — the same category of tool as a content blocker — and it never adds anything to what you send. The download tools save the media your browser is already playing, one item at a time.

Performance Does it slow the sites down?

No. It cancels those requests before they are made, so there is slightly less network work than usual, not more. The panel and its counters are local, so there is nothing extra to fetch.

Basics Do I have to configure anything?

No. Core protection starts with sensible defaults. Open the panel only when you want to change a site or feature, inspect counters, or activate Lifetime Pro.

Privacy What does it store, and does any of it leave my machine?

It keeps your switches, a blocked count per feature, and a short local log with message text removed. Browsing content stays local. Pro activation sends only the licence key and installation identifiers to the licence service. The privacy policy lists every field.

Honesty Does it hide my online or active status?

No. It hides story and reel views, read receipts and typing indicators. Your active indicator is a different thing and is left untouched — see what it cannot do.

Installation

Running in about a minute.

Add it from your browser's own store. Core protection is free; WhatsApp Web, Threads and Pro tools are included with the one-time Lifetime Pro upgrade.

current release v1.4.26