Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Instagram Disables Several APIs Used by Third-Party Apps

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,560
39,410



instagramlogo-250x250.jpg
Along with multiple privacy-related API changes being made to Facebook, Facebook, which owns Instagram, announced that it has disabled several Instagram Platform APIs as of today, disabling certain Instagram features that are available in third-party Instagram apps.

Third-party Instagram apps will no longer be able to use APIs that provide access to follower lists, likes, relationships, and public comments.
To continuously improve Instagram users' privacy and security, we are accelerating the deprecation of Instagram API Platform, making the following changes effective immediately. We understand that this may affect your business or services, and we appreciate your support in keeping our platform secure.
Click to expand...
In the future, other APIs will be disabled. Starting on December 11, 2018, Instagram will no longer allow apps to read public content, and in early 2020, apps will not be able to read a user's own profile info and media. These APIs are all part of Instagram's older platform, and it has already been working towards transferring developers to a newer, more restrictive platform.

As TechCrunch points out, Instagram had originally planned on deprecating the APIs in July and December of 2018, but suddenly moved the timetable forward in the wake of Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. While the remaining APIs won't be disabled fully until 2020, Instagram has implemented rate limit reductions on them as of last weekend to limit access.

Instagram previously allowed 5,000 API calls per user per hour, a number that has been cut down to 200.

Article Link: Instagram Disables Several APIs Used by Third-Party Apps
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/04/04/instagram-disables-third-party-app-apis/
I wonder if this will kill Flume. It’s a great app and far easier to get great pics on Instagram that aren’t taken on a phone.
 
MacRumors said:



instagramlogo-250x250.jpg
Along with multiple privacy-related API changes being made to Facebook, Facebook, which owns Instagram, announced that it has disabled several Instagram Platform APIs as of today, disabling certain Instagram features that are available in third-party Instagram apps.

Third-party Instagram apps will no longer be able to use APIs that provide access to follower lists, likes, relationships, and public comments.In the future, other APIs will be disabled. Starting on December 11, 2018, Instagram will no longer allow apps to read public content, and in early 2020, apps will not be able to read a user's own profile info and media. These APIs are all part of Instagram's older platform, and it has already been working towards transferring developers to a newer, more restrictive platform.

As TechCrunch points out, Instagram had originally planned on deprecating the APIs in July and December of 2018, but suddenly moved the timetable forward in the wake of Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. While the remaining APIs won't be disabled fully until 2020, Instagram has implemented rate limit reductions on them as of last weekend to limit access.

Instagram previously allowed 5,000 API calls per user per hour, a number that has been cut down to 200.

Article Link: Instagram Disables Several APIs Used by Third-Party Apps
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1522894226][/doublepost]Okay, Facebook/Instagram, so you're making it impossible for me to pull my own feeds so I can display them on my website....but, you're still selling my **** to your advertisers and developers? Yeah....okay......
 
  • Like
Reactions: t1meless1nf1n1t, Deelron and DeepIn2U
Still can’t believe they don’t have an iPad app or even a official desktop version. Currently I’m using Grid on my Mac, which is great and I hope that I can still use it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jayderek
scottdavidsmith said:
[doublepost=1522894226][/doublepost]Okay, Facebook/Instagram, so you're making it impossible for me to pull my own feeds so I can display them on my website....but, you're still selling my **** to your advertisers and developers? Yeah....okay......
Click to expand...

... you're seriously expecting better from a social media or ad marketing company in this decade? was your post /s or for real ... I cannot honestly tell.
 
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of devs suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Lol, people are going to be pulling all-nighters fixing their sites now.

I personally prefer an API-free app so it's just humans interacting, but this sucks for those trying to do more with it. My bet is we're going to see more and more of this across all companies. Everything is going back to closed slowly.
 
A lot of devs and others who rely on FB and Instagram to make money/promote themselves must be getting nervous. If the backlash gets worse and/or government regulation takes hold, in a couple of years or sooner, it could feel more like 2010 to them instead of 2020.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: fairuz
Instagram is a real problem for privacy users, it has no alternative. There are many open source browsers, messaging apps, email providers but Instagram is the only service of its kind on the market. It will be very hard to convince people to abandon that.
 
I've tried Flume, surprised to read that people like the experience. To me it adds no functionality and it's just too slow.

Instagram on a jailbroken iPad using Full Force though: amazing.

Absolutely insane that there isn't native iPad support within the Instagram app.
 
I have an app on my Mac the will download anyones Instagram photos as long as the profile is public or whom I am following. It appears to no longer work as of two days ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back