Watusi and IGFormat: WhatsApp and Instagram, Unlocked
Same idea applied to the two apps you open most: keep the app, change the rules. Watusi and IGFormat are tweaked builds of WhatsApp and Instagram — the interface you already know, with the switches the originals never gave you.
Your chats and account stay exactly where they are. These replace the app, not your data.
Watusi (WhatsApp)
Watusi 3 adds a Watusi Preferences entry inside WhatsApp’s own settings, and behind it nine sections of toggles. The ones people install it for:
- Privacy. Freeze your last seen, disable read receipts and delivery receipts, open view-once media more than once, hide muted calls, and stop the screenshot-detection notice on view-once media.
- Protection. An app passcode, per-chat locks, hidden last message in the chat list, protected starred and archived chats, Touch ID to open them.
- Anti-delete. Messages someone deletes stay readable, edit history is kept, and deleted statuses stick around instead of vanishing.
- Media. Send unlimited photos at once, save view-once media and profile photos, export audio messages, forward to everyone in one go, split long videos for status.
- Interface. Themes, tab bar reordering, and the smaller things WhatsApp keeps out of reach.
It’s the most complete WhatsApp tweak on iOS, and the reason its search traffic is mostly people asking how to install it rather than whether it’s worth it.
IGFormat (Instagram)
IGFormat is the Instagram equivalent — all features unlocked, aimed at the two things Instagram deliberately doesn’t do:
- Downloads. Save reels, stories, posts and profile photos straight from the app instead of screen-recording them.
- Ghost viewing. Watch stories without appearing in the viewer list, and skip read receipts in DMs.
- Cleaner feed. Suggested-post and ad clutter reduced.
- Quality-of-life. Copy bios and comments, open links outside the in-app browser, keep media at full resolution.
If you’ve used RyukGram or Rocket, IGFormat sits in the same family — pick whichever build is currently maintained; they don’t run side by side.
Which one
They’re not alternatives — different apps entirely. Install Watusi if WhatsApp is where your day happens and you want privacy controls plus anti-delete; install IGFormat if Instagram is where you keep losing things you wanted to save.
One caveat that applies to both: only one build of an app at a time. A tweaked Instagram replaces the stock Instagram; you can’t run both.
Installing on iPhone
Neither is on the App Store — App Review doesn’t approve modified clients of other companies’ apps. Both install from builds.io in one tap:
- Open builds.io on the iPhone and sign in.
- Tap GET on the tweak you want.
- Log in as usual — your account and chat history are untouched.
No jailbreak, no computer, no re-signing every seven days.
Common questions
Will I lose my chats? No. Watusi is WhatsApp with extra settings; it uses the same account and the same local data.
Can I keep the stock app installed too? No — the tweaked build takes the place of the original. That’s how iOS handles it.
Do these get updated when WhatsApp or Instagram do? Yes, that’s the reason to install from a catalog rather than chasing an IPA: the tweaked build gets rebuilt against the new version. Watusi has shipped several updates in the past month alone.
Is there a risk to my account? Modified clients are against the terms of service of both platforms. In practice bans for using them are rare, but the honest answer is that the risk isn’t zero, and it’s yours to weigh.