Instagram blocking, deleting photos from third-party Windows Phone service

If you own a Windows phone but hanker after the filtered awesomeness that is Instagram, then we’ve got some more bad news for you. The Facebook-owned network is deleting and blocking photos from a Windows Phone app that supports the viewing and uploading of Instagram photos.

The app, called Instance, reverse engineers Instagram’s own API to upload photos to the service unofficially, but it looks like Instagram has caught on.

Speaking to The Verge, Instance developer Daniel Gary claims that Instagram is deleting the photos uploaded from the Windows Phone service as soon as they appear on the site, something the tech news publication was able to confirm for itself.

The Verge suggests that Facebook may well be tracking uploads from Instance and other third-party services and actively deleting content. If that it is the case, it comes at an interesting time, following fast of the heels of Hipstamatic’s launch on Windows Phone, although it only allows uploads to Instagram, with no viewing capabilities.

Instance has apparently been in trouble with Instagram in the past and was forced to change its name from “Itsdagram”.

According to Gary, Instagram appears to be “detecting when photos are not uploading via the official app”. And while he’s working on a fix, he says he doesn’t blame the service for blocking other apps. “It’s their servers, their service. What I was doing was not approved by them and was using their private API,” he tells The Verge.

Update: In a statement, Instagram has confirmed it has made changes to its API in an effort to fight spam and increase security. Any apps accessing Instagram outside its official API may experience issues with the service.