Ask HN: Why Is Instagram Killing Itself?

[commmentator]

Over the past few weeks there have been a number of inexplicable 'bugs' with Instagram. An example I'll use is browsing by hashtag is no longer possible unless you are using the app (previously, it was possible to browse via browser).

My question for HN, and more specifically for IG developers on HN, is why are you disabling features?

It would be understandable if the rationale was to drive traffic to the app, but no error saying 'you must use the app to browse by hashtag' is displayed when you try browsing on a browser, you just get a page showing the top posts, with no explanation why other posts are there. So that reason doesn't cut it.

[yuppie_scum]

They don’t want you using it on the web, it’s that simple

[algoatecorn]

Yep, reddit did the same thing a while back for mobile use. Using reddit on a mobile browser is terrible, especially if you want to see the comments for a topic flagged as NSFW. They have no problem showing you the content, but if you want to see the comments you're prompted to download the app. I suspect this is because they are preying upon the compulsion to see what others think. The only way around this is to replace [www.] with [old.] on the web address.

[eimrine]

Maybe they want to set a bad reputation for web-version. Kind of "look, all of my friends have a decent experience and I am not having it, what I am doing wrong?" And if I remember correctly, you can not even register an account without an app, so this is not killing itself but just being itself.

[paulpauper]

An example I'll use is browsing by hashtag is no longer possible unless you are using the app (previously, it was possible to browse via browser).

Same here. I think it's to stop spam. Very annoying though.