The OG app was recently launched on the App Store market as the “OG Instagram experience.” The app allowed users to filter the content they see on their Instagram free, create custom feeds, remove ads, suggested content, and more. Despite the exciting premise of the app, it was removed from the App Store shortly after its launch for violating Meta’s terms of service.
OG App violated Meta’s terms of service
Apple told 9to5Mac that the OG App had to be removed from its app marketplace because it violated Meta’s terms of service and its Instagram API. The developers of the OG App did not have permission to use the Instagram API in the way they were. Therefore, they will in violation of both Meta’s terms of service and Apple’s own App Store guidelines, specifically the App Store Review Guideline 5.2.2:
Make sure your app only includes content that you created or that you have a license to use. Your app may be removed if you’ve stepped over the line and used content without permission.
If your app uses, accesses, monetizes access to, or displays content from a third-party service, ensure that you are specifically permitted to do so under the service’s terms of use. Authorization must be provided upon request.
In addition to this, since the OG App comes from a third party and requires a user’s Instagram login details, the accounts could be left vulnerable to security risks. To avoid something of that sort from happening, Apple decided to remove the app from the App Store.
In response to the OG App, Meta disabled all personal Instagram and Facebook accounts of the team behind it and publicly said that the app violates their policies.
The team behind the OG App also shared a statement with TechCrunch:
Everyone knows Instagram sucks. We made it better and got a lot of love from users. But Facebook hates its own users so much, it’s willing to crush an alternative that gives them a clean, ad-free Instagram. Apple is colluding with Facebook to bully two teenagers who made Instagram better
Since the app has been removed from the App Store, it can no longer be downloaded. It will soon stop working for users who have downloaded it. Interestingly enough, the app continues to be available on Google’s Play Store and the OG App creators have said that Android is “the clear choice for users who want privacy, freedom, and optionality.”
Read more:
