Instagram photos uploaded via Windows Phone mysteriously disappear

Are users of smartphones running Microsoft's Windows Phone relegated to lower-class citizens as far as photo-sharing service Instagram is concerned?

 

Instagram photos uploaded from Instance, an independent Windows Phone app, are suddenly—and inexplicably—being deleted, tech site The Next Web reported.

 

"Evidently Instagram has little spies that watch every @WindowsPhone user and deletes their images after uploading. #onlythingicanthinkof" it quoted Instance creator Daniel Gary as saying in a Twitter post.

 

Grey told The Next Web he believes this "was a deliberate move by Instagram, not against Windows Phone, but locking down their API.”

 

He said the update happened when they released video support, "but they didn’t lock out old users until most had already upgraded to version 4.0+.”

 

“Everyone is screaming about how wrong Instagram is for doing this. They aren’t. I hope I can get around it and get Instance working again, but they have every right to try to lock out third party apps,” he said.

 

The Next Web noted Instagram has not yet released a native app for Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform.

 

According to The Next Web, its own tests show photos uploaded to Instagram via Instance disappear after a very brief time.

 

"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," it said.

 

The Next Web also said the issue comes after the release of Hipstamatic Oggl for Nokia Lumia handsets, which offer direct sharing to Instagram. — TJD, GMA News