The OG app, which provided the experience of ‘original’ Instagram to users without ads, recommendations, and Reels has been pulled from the app stores by Apple, and now Google. The OG app was developed to let users browse Instagram the old way with customizable feed options. The third party provided an Instagram experience without any new features that many believe to be obtrusive.
The OG app was officially launched on the app stores on September 28. And, just a day after Apple pulled it from the app stores. The app creators claimed the app was climbing the ranks and got 10,000 downloads before it was removed. On Sunday, Google followed suit and booted the app off the Play Store.
Dear Apple: You’re helping Facebook bully your users.
A thread:
— The OG App ???? (@TheOGapp_) September 28, 2022
The OG app
Apple said The OG app was accessing Instagram’s service in an unauthorized manner adding that the app also breached App Store rules which prohibited it from displaying content from third-party apps by violating their terms of use. On the other hand, Instagram parent Meta said the clone app violated its policies adding that the company is “taking all appropriate enforcement actions.”
Un1feed developed the OG App with an aim of providing users with a customizable Instagram experience. It was launched at a time when Instagram users’ frustration is increasing about the many new unwelcomed features it is adding to the app. In order to give the OG Instagram experience, Un1feed reverse-engineered Instagram for Android API, which undoubtedly also created a lot of issues that potentially risked users’ privacy and security.
Meta has tightened its rules around access to user data and has limited its APIs to show a limited amount of information outside its family of apps. Earlier, the tech giant has also filed lawsuits for such sites or third-party sites that duplicate content.
In a Twitter thread on Friday, The OG App announced the app’s removal from both iOS and Android’s app stores and that it won’t be able to serve its user. In a brief period the app was live it attracted more than 25,000 downloads, the company claimed.
