Windows Phone has welcomed quite a few major new apps to its ecosystem in recent months, including Pandora and Temple Run. However, one big app that's still missing from the platform is Instagram, which is a deficiency that's led to the creation of third-party Instagram clients like "Instance." Neither Instagram nor Facebook never really seemed to have a problem with these third-party Windows Phone apps, but it appears that that might be changing.
Daniel Gary, developer of the aforementioned Instance app, tweeted today that it appears that Instagram is deleting images that are uploaded by his unofficial app. A report from The Verge made a similar observation, noting that photos uploaded using Instance disappear just a few seconds after being posted and that the URL for the image ends up getting killed as well. Images that've been previously uploaded using Instance are also being yanked from a user's public timeline, though they're still available privately.
Neither Instagram nor Facebook have commented on the situation, but Gary suggests that Instagram is identifying which photos aren't being uploaded through its official apps and then removing them. The fact that Instance utilized Instagram's private API always meant a situation like this was a possibility, but it's kind of a bummer to see that users' photos are being yanked, especially since there's no official Instagram client available on Windows Phone.
As for what Instance users looking to get their filtered photo fix can do, Gary says that he's working to get his app's uploads working correctly again. The Hipstamatic Oggl app is currently the only official option for Windows Phone users that want to upload photos to Instagram.
UPDATE: Instagram has issued a statement to The Verge explaining that it "recently made an update to the systems that we use to fight spam to help prevent future attacks and increase security." The company didn't offer up any further details about the change(s) that've been made.
UPDATE 2: Daniel Gary has tweeted that Instagram seems to have changed a setting on its end, as images posted by his app are at least sticking to the service now. WPCentral reports that its own images are sticking to Instagram now when uploaded through Instance. However, the issue hasn't been completely resolved because the images are being listed as private rather than public.
Via @danielgary (1), (2), The Verge, WPCentral
