Instagraph, an app that provides a way to uploading of photos to the Instagram social photo sharing service, is now available for Windows Phone 7.5 devices, after initially only being available for Windows Phone 8 devices. Instagraph is notable because, unlike other apps, it does not use the Instagram API to upload photos, but rather uses a server-based work around, and therefore may be less likely to blocked by Instagram for breaking its API terms of service.
We have previously noted that Instagram is not very welcoming of third party apps that upload photos to the service:
As we noted in a recent editorial there are a number of third party Instagram apps for Windows Phone (e.g. Metrogram), but they are restricted to viewing images only. Instagram, in contrast to services like Twitter, does not have an open API for registration or image posting, thus limiting the functionality of an unofficial third party apps. It's a deliberate decision on the part of the service, which wants to control the core user experience (and apps) itself.
Instagraph may not be in technical violation of Instagram terms of service, but it's possible that Instagram could see it is as breaking the spirit of the terms of service. However, despite our initial pessimism, neither Instagraph nor any of the other third party Instagram upload apps for Windows Phone have yet been blocked. That doesn't mean it wont happen, but it does seem Instagram isn't quite as trigger happy as we first imagined.
Windows Phone Store description:
The first ever Windows Phone unofficial Instagram™ sharing App.
Upload your pictures to Instagram™ directly from your Windows Phone 7 device.
sign in on your existing Instagram™ account
select a picture from your albums or take a photo with the camera
select the area to crop and apply one of the awesome filters powered by Aviary editor
share your image to the Instagram™ network!
Instagraph can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Store. It is currently priced at £0.79. The app is also available for Windows Phone 8.
