Those of you using Instance, the unofficial Instagram client for Windows Phone, have probably noticed that things aren’t running as smoothly as they should since yesterday. Indeed Instance seems to be in some trouble.
Numerous users report that photos that they share to the social photo service are being deleted shortly after being uploaded. This issue is in addition to an earlier problem that saw some users receiving a log-in error message when trying to use the app, although the two may be connected.
The problems started when Instagram changed their keys that are used to authenticate, and Windows Phone users obviously got left out. However that problem was quickly fixed once Daniel Gary, the app’s developer, got wind of it.
The Facebook-owned photo-based network hasn’t developed an official Instagram app for Windows Phone users. As a result, people have been forced to use third-party clients, such as the popular Instance application.
There’s no clear explanation why this is happening and the app’s creator Daniel Gary half-jokingly posted the tweet below.
Evidently Instagram has little spies that watch every @WindowsPhone user and deletes their images after uploading. #onlythingicanthinkof
— Daniel Gary (@danielgary) July 30, 2013
It’s unclear at this point whether the automatic deletions are a technical problem, or an intentional decision by Instagram to disincentivize third-party applications on the Windows Phone platform.
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