I like using my laptop to check Instagram. Is there a way to follow an ad link via the URL link using my laptop?

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Edit: Oh, now I see what you want now. My answer is to help you open up Instagram URLs on your desktop from iOS, so it probably won’t be helpful.

Hey Gordon, this is the way that I’ve found. It’s convoluted, but the setup doesn’t seem too bad. I’m assuming you’re in iOS, this will be a lot easier if you’re on Android. I have tested it and it mostly works.

The basic thing you need to work around is that Apple opens up all URLs in Safari, which doesn’t integrate with the desktop. What you want is to open up the URLs in Chrome instead.

Uninstall the Instagram app. If you don’t then all Instagram URLs will open in Instagram. If you like this workaround, then you shouldn’t ever need the Instagram app.

If you don’t have Chrome installed on your phone, go ahead and do that. You are going to need to log into your Chrome account on both your phone and your desktop. You may already do this.

Second, install the Shortcuts app onto your phone. Add a new workflow, name it “Open in Chrome” and scroll down to the Chrome section. This link will walk you through it. Make sure you click the Workflow settings and check “Add to Share Sheet”

Now that you’ve done all that, when you’re in Quora, or anywhere else, and click on an Instagram URL, it will pop up a Safari window and beg you to install the app. Instead at the bottom of the screen click the share icon, second from the right. If you’ve added it to the share sheet then you can click “More” and then check the “Shortcuts” option. Once checked you can select it from the second row share options. It will pop up a “Run Shortcut” menu and you should have “Open in Chrome” as the only option.

Once opened in Chrome, you should be able to open up Chrome on your Desktop, which shares your browser history with your phone. Click the three dot menu at the top right, open the History submenu, and you should see your Instagram entry in the section where your phone history is. Click on that and you’re in business. The first time I tried it, I didn’t see the entry in my history, but clicking on one link on my phone made the history entry appear. So it might take some fiddling to find out the quickest way to do it.

Convoluted setup, but the actual workflow isn’t really that bad once you’ve done it once.

Edit: I found another way to open mobile safari urls in Chrome that might be easier, detailed here. It might save a few clicks over using Shortcuts, but I haven’t tested it. Either way, you’re relying on the history sharing feature of Chrome to do the actual mobile/desktop transition.