It started with a bet: no Reels for a month.

Deleting Instagram had never stuck. Every time, a group chat or a message pulled us back, and the Reels tab came back with it. So the bet was narrower: keep Instagram, never open Reels. Thirty days.

Nobody made it. Not because we lacked willpower, but because the tab is in the middle of the bar, Reels are mixed into the feed, and Explore is a Reels page with a search box. The app is built so that ignoring Reels is harder than watching them.

The people who came closest had quietly moved to the website. Fewer hooks, no autoplay, slower. It was better. It still had a Reels tab.

So we built the version of Instagram we wanted: the website, with the Reels tab, the Explore page, the suggestions and the ads hidden. Then YouTube without Shorts. Then Snapchat without Spotlight. Then the rest.

That is Feedwise. It is the social apps you already use, with the parts designed to keep you scrolling removed and the parts that connect you to people left alone. Free, on your phone, with nothing sent to us.

It is a bit slower than the real thing. We are keeping it that way.