Submitted by Frank Macey on
Sometimes an Instagram Reel really hits home. When you encounter content that strikes a nerve, some iPhone owners' first reaction is to save to the Photos app. Once your favorite videos are locally stored on your device, they can be enjoyed, sent to friends, or re-posted to your favorite social media app. While the Instagram app does not include an easy way to save Reels to the iPhone camera roll, there is a way to make this happen for free.
The process requires installing a free app. Once the app is installed, it will easily download Instagram Reels in full quality without any watermarks or borders. The Reels that are saved to the recents album look like they were recorded directly on your device.
To download Instagram Reels to your iPhone, follow these steps:
- Download and install the Reposter for Instagram app from the App Store
- Launch Instagram and open the Reel you'd like to download
- Tap the More menu (...)
- Tap Copy Link
- Launch the Reposter for Instagram app
- Tap the Preview Photo or Video button
- Tap Repost on Instagram
- Exit the app, the Reel is already saved to Photos
To grab the Reel to your Files app instead of Photos, tap Open in Browser instead of Repost on Instagram. Once opened, tap the share icon and use Save to Files -> Save. The Instagram Reel will appear in the Files app on your iPhone.
Reposter for Instagram also offers a Pro version, which costs $1.99 for a year or $5.99 forever. Activating this In-App purchase delivers the following capabilities: remove ads, repost stories, enable the "Copy caption" feature, and of course paying supports the further development of the app.