9 ms·

Bibliogram – Open-source front-end for Instagram

248 points by commoner 5y ago

commoner 5y ago
Instagram has been requiring viewers to sign in after browsing a certain number of pages. Bibliogram is a way to bypass this registration wall. List of instances: https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-docs/tree/master/docs/Instances.md https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-docs/tree/master/docs/... Source code: https://sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram/ https://sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram/ Similar services Invidious (YouTube): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21535562 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21535562 Nitter (Twitter): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21849744 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21849744 Teddit (Reddit): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25310206 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25310206 Related software UntrackMe (Android app that converts links from Instagram and others to alternative front-ends): https://framagit.org/tom79/nitterizeme https://framagit.org/tom79/nitterizeme Privacy Redirect (browser extension that redirects to these front-ends): https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect Barinsta (open source Instagram client for Android): https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta
- 0-_-0 5y ago
  It doesn't work though, and hasn't for a while, and likely never will [0]: Timeline loading blocked Instagram is refusing to provide data to this server. This server will only be able to load the first page of timelines. This error is permanent. [0]: https://proxy.vulpes.one/gemini/cadence.moe/gemlog/2020-12-17-future-of-bibliogram.bliz https://proxy.vulpes.one/gemini/cadence.moe/gemlog/2020-12-1...
  - commoner 5y ago
    It worked right before I submitted the link to HN. This may be the effect of a temporary traffic surge. The software is open source, so anyone is able to start a new instance, as others did for Invidious and Nitter. Edit: Added list of instances to GP. For some reason, the main instance is still working for me.
    - sixhobbits 5y ago
      I have tried it locally and various hosted instances several times over the last few months and while it occasionally works that error is more common than not. Teddit.net for reddit works amazingly though.
      - commoner 5y ago
        Thanks, I've added Teddit to the list. I'm hoping that the attention will help Bibliogram improve.
        Rompect 5y ago
        Improve how? It was already pretty good. The entire user page and even Instagram TV was supported. But the current situation is not Bibliogram's fault.
        commoner 5y ago
        More attention would encourage people to host new instances and help find workarounds for Instagram's rate limiting. There are also some features that are being worked on, such as a search function: https://todo.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-issues/6 https://todo.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-issues/6
  - sschueller 5y ago
    Yeah, I am just starting to see 1 star reviews on my repost app (https://github.com/sschueller/easyrepost https://github.com/sschueller/easyrepost) . It's totally broken now. Good thing I open sourced it and gave up on monetization in part to HN horror stories of people building business on top of other services like Facebook. I'm going to abandon this and move on to maybe working on a Pixelfed android client instead.
    - sprite 5y ago
      Does anyone if there is any case law on this? Are you legally allowed to create 3rd party clients for various services?
      - Bjartr 5y ago
        You're generally allowed to create them, and the service provider is generally allowed to change their service in ways that break them.
      - antif 5y ago
        Craigslist v. 3Taps may be related/interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist_Inc._v._3Taps_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist_Inc._v._3Taps_Inc. > case sets a precedent that allows businesses to use the CFAA to keep public data away from competitors
    - busymom0 5y ago
      Had a similar experience myself when 3 years ago IG and FB blocked all third party access to the API and my “best time to post” and scheduler apps all broke.
    - graderjs 5y ago
      The thing is, what if you leveraged the "cloud" of people, to build a p2p instagram cache/clone perhaps on IPFS or some other p2p store or mesh, where the seeders are people with IG accounts who are logged in, and that living network of people then can feed out data to overyone else logging in to the "rebel front-end". That would be cool. It seems that kind of thing would be unshut-downable and with enough seeders, unstoppable and complete.
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    Why not make a free software replacement for the mobile app instead? Surely there's no way to block that.
    - sodality2 5y ago
      https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta/ https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta/ is one such alternative client
      - mackrevinack 5y ago
        that seems to be fairly unreliable as well. some days it works, most days it doesn't
        sodality2 5y ago
        Works consistently every time for me, it relies on the web version so if the web version is working, it works (and if the app doesn't work it is because the web version is down).
- swiley 5y ago
  It won't be long before they're just another pintrest. Facebook is going to need to keep something it bought alive or it might struggle to keep the lights on.
- swyx 5y ago
  can someone do this for linkedin? tired of clicking on profiles from google only to be presented with the login wall. you shouldnt be allowed to treat googlebot better than you treat humans, that opens up all sorts of chicanery
mih 5y ago
Instagram/Facebook seems to have blocked loading timelines on the profiles. Am able to view only the first page of profiles. Even tried running it locally, to the same effect.
yosito 5y ago
The way that Instagram/Facebook quickly block third party clients like this really make it obvious that they control what you see and how you use the platform. You do not have control of the content you see on Instagram. It is force fed to you to manipulate you according to which advertisers have paid for your attention. I really wish the people who invest their time and energy into developing third party UIs for Instagram would spend their time instead developing UIs and front ends for open source and federated software. Someone build "Instagram for Nextcloud", please.
- commoner 5y ago
  The open source federated equivalent to Instagram is Pixelfed: https://pixelfed.org https://pixelfed.org There's an Android app for it called PixelDroid: https://gitlab.shinice.net/pixeldroid/PixelDroid https://gitlab.shinice.net/pixeldroid/PixelDroid
  - yosito 5y ago
    Pixelfed is the kind of project I'm talking about. It's a great start of a project that needs a lot more work to become usable as a serious photography platform. I wish more people would put their effort into improving projects like Pixelfed rather than building front ends for Instagram that get shut down.
  - pcora 5y ago
    How does Pixelfed makes money?
    - Jolter 5y ago
      Looks like Patreon if you read the web site. And Liberapay, I guess. It’s an open source “host your own” software, I don’t think they are trying to monetize beyond paying a living wage for the developer.
    - messo 5y ago
      It is not a company, but a federated network – anyone can run their own server and interact with the all other nodes (much like email). The software is open source and is a community effort, although the lead developer got a grant [1] that allows him to spend time to improve the project over time. 1: https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed#pixelfed-sponsors https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed#pixelfed-sponsors
annadane 5y ago
The next time you hear 'Facebook has purchased...' you know it's going to go to hell, Instagram is a prime example. Oh, now you need to log in to do anything. Oh, now there's an algorithmic feed... Mark Zuckerberg: not even once
- ojame 5y ago
  While I generally agree, pre-acquisition Instagram didn’t have a web viewer. You could only use it via the app, which required you to log in.
  - annadane 5y ago
    Fair enough
css 5y ago
Projects like this make me sad for what we have lost. All of Instagram used to provide open RSS feeds [0]. They also used to brag about third parties making interesting things with Instagram data [1], [2]. You can see their old blog posts by going to [3], right-clicking and copying the link of a post, and appending `/embed` to the URL. [0] https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8755963247/introducing-hashtags-on-instagram/embed https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8755963247/introducing-has... [1]: https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8757679335/api-highlights-moby-starbucks-deftones/embed https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8757679335/api-highlights-... [2]: https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8756150468/a-real-time-api-for-next-generation-apps/embed https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8756150468/a-real-time-api... [3]: https://instagram.tumblr.com/archive/filter-by/text https://instagram.tumblr.com/archive/filter-by/text
- gryn 5y ago
  well that's the difference between a company at a stage where it's trying to get more popular by getting approval from people and one where's it trying to squeeze what it can from you because it's established well enough. I hope we can get a less closed corporate web in the future by some miracle, but I'm not optimistic about that.
  - rapnie 5y ago
    How about a fully open standards-based non-corporate web: https://fediverse.party https://fediverse.party
    - edhelas 5y ago
      We also have RSS/Atom for that ;) XMPP can easily embed Atom in Pubsub feeds, this brings this kind of results https://mov.im/?node/news.movim.eu/TorrentFreak https://mov.im/?node/news.movim.eu/TorrentFreak
- PostThisTooFast 5y ago
  This is why you don't waste time or money building something on a third party's platform that can be taken away at any moment.
valyagolev 5y ago
Apart from the obvious possibility of IP ban (that there's only one way to circumvent), I think parsing is the most brittle part of this. If I needed to make something that would just survive without me rewriting it all the time, I would do away with parsing somehow, at all. E.g. instead of trying to parse anything, just load it in a browser (headless, or even real) and just somehow see where the images are (from the requests log, or from the screenshot).
commoner 5y ago
This submission should not have been renamed to "Show HN" since I'm not the author. Credits go to Cadence Ember (~cadence on SourceHut): Website: https://cadence.moe https://cadence.moe SourceHut: https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/ https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/ GitHub: https://github.com/cloudrac3r https://github.com/cloudrac3r Contact/Donate: https://cadence.moe/about/contact https://cadence.moe/about/contact Patreon (linked from contact page): https://www.patreon.com/papiophidian https://www.patreon.com/papiophidian
- dang 5y ago
  Sorry! I misread your comments as indicating that you're the author. Fixed now. Thank for letting us know.
  - commoner 5y ago
    Thanks, dang!
m0ngr31 5y ago
I run an instance of this for the sole purpose of having an Instagram RSS feed. I have a telegram bot run a muted channel that pulls feeds from various subreddits, some public Instagram accounts, and some random blogs. I've found it helps me from browsing aimlessly throughout the day.
jeffgreco 5y ago
Since embeds are always accessible, I created a quick page and iOS Shortcut to allow for easier viewing of specific Instagram post links. Just append the ID to https://instaembed.github.io/INSTA_ID_HERE https://instaembed.github.io/INSTA_ID_HERE This shortcut will do it automatically if you share an Insta link to it: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e939f9755fc8499c85954aa1790b5205 https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e939f9755fc8499c85954aa1790...
grae_QED 5y ago
This is fantastic. I was just complaining today about how obnoxious not having an Instagram is. That is trying to view an Instagram profile without having one yourself. Either you can only scroll so far down the profile page and be prompted to sign in, or you can't even view the profile without signing in. It's such cancer. But this is the exact solution I was looking for!

248 points by commoner 5y ago

Instagram has been requiring viewers to sign in after browsing a certain number of pages. Bibliogram is a way to bypass this registration wall. List of instances: https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-docs/tree/master/docs/Instances.md https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-docs/tree/master/docs/... Source code: https://sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram/ https://sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram/ Similar services Invidious (YouTube): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21535562 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21535562 Nitter (Twitter): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21849744 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21849744 Teddit (Reddit): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25310206 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25310206 Related software UntrackMe (Android app that converts links from Instagram and others to alternative front-ends): https://framagit.org/tom79/nitterizeme https://framagit.org/tom79/nitterizeme Privacy Redirect (browser extension that redirects to these front-ends): https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect Barinsta (open source Instagram client for Android): https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta

0-_-0 5y ago
It doesn't work though, and hasn't for a while, and likely never will [0]: Timeline loading blocked Instagram is refusing to provide data to this server. This server will only be able to load the first page of timelines. This error is permanent. [0]: https://proxy.vulpes.one/gemini/cadence.moe/gemlog/2020-12-17-future-of-bibliogram.bliz https://proxy.vulpes.one/gemini/cadence.moe/gemlog/2020-12-1...
- commoner 5y ago
  It worked right before I submitted the link to HN. This may be the effect of a temporary traffic surge. The software is open source, so anyone is able to start a new instance, as others did for Invidious and Nitter. Edit: Added list of instances to GP. For some reason, the main instance is still working for me.
  - sixhobbits 5y ago
    I have tried it locally and various hosted instances several times over the last few months and while it occasionally works that error is more common than not. Teddit.net for reddit works amazingly though.
    - commoner 5y ago
      Thanks, I've added Teddit to the list. I'm hoping that the attention will help Bibliogram improve.
      - Rompect 5y ago
        Improve how? It was already pretty good. The entire user page and even Instagram TV was supported. But the current situation is not Bibliogram's fault.
        commoner 5y ago
        More attention would encourage people to host new instances and help find workarounds for Instagram's rate limiting. There are also some features that are being worked on, such as a search function: https://todo.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-issues/6 https://todo.sr.ht/~cadence/bibliogram-issues/6
- sschueller 5y ago
  Yeah, I am just starting to see 1 star reviews on my repost app (https://github.com/sschueller/easyrepost https://github.com/sschueller/easyrepost) . It's totally broken now. Good thing I open sourced it and gave up on monetization in part to HN horror stories of people building business on top of other services like Facebook. I'm going to abandon this and move on to maybe working on a Pixelfed android client instead.
  - sprite 5y ago
    Does anyone if there is any case law on this? Are you legally allowed to create 3rd party clients for various services?
    - Bjartr 5y ago
      You're generally allowed to create them, and the service provider is generally allowed to change their service in ways that break them.
    - antif 5y ago
      Craigslist v. 3Taps may be related/interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist_Inc._v._3Taps_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist_Inc._v._3Taps_Inc. > case sets a precedent that allows businesses to use the CFAA to keep public data away from competitors
  - busymom0 5y ago
    Had a similar experience myself when 3 years ago IG and FB blocked all third party access to the API and my “best time to post” and scheduler apps all broke.
  - graderjs 5y ago
    The thing is, what if you leveraged the "cloud" of people, to build a p2p instagram cache/clone perhaps on IPFS or some other p2p store or mesh, where the seeders are people with IG accounts who are logged in, and that living network of people then can feed out data to overyone else logging in to the "rebel front-end". That would be cool. It seems that kind of thing would be unshut-downable and with enough seeders, unstoppable and complete.
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  Why not make a free software replacement for the mobile app instead? Surely there's no way to block that.
  - sodality2 5y ago
    https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta/ https://github.com/austinhuang0131/barinsta/ is one such alternative client
    - mackrevinack 5y ago
      that seems to be fairly unreliable as well. some days it works, most days it doesn't
      - sodality2 5y ago
        Works consistently every time for me, it relies on the web version so if the web version is working, it works (and if the app doesn't work it is because the web version is down).
swiley 5y ago
It won't be long before they're just another pintrest. Facebook is going to need to keep something it bought alive or it might struggle to keep the lights on.
swyx 5y ago
can someone do this for linkedin? tired of clicking on profiles from google only to be presented with the login wall. you shouldnt be allowed to treat googlebot better than you treat humans, that opens up all sorts of chicanery

mih 5y ago

Instagram/Facebook seems to have blocked loading timelines on the profiles. Am able to view only the first page of profiles. Even tried running it locally, to the same effect.

yosito 5y ago

The way that Instagram/Facebook quickly block third party clients like this really make it obvious that they control what you see and how you use the platform. You do not have control of the content you see on Instagram. It is force fed to you to manipulate you according to which advertisers have paid for your attention. I really wish the people who invest their time and energy into developing third party UIs for Instagram would spend their time instead developing UIs and front ends for open source and federated software. Someone build "Instagram for Nextcloud", please.

commoner 5y ago
The open source federated equivalent to Instagram is Pixelfed: https://pixelfed.org https://pixelfed.org There's an Android app for it called PixelDroid: https://gitlab.shinice.net/pixeldroid/PixelDroid https://gitlab.shinice.net/pixeldroid/PixelDroid
- yosito 5y ago
  Pixelfed is the kind of project I'm talking about. It's a great start of a project that needs a lot more work to become usable as a serious photography platform. I wish more people would put their effort into improving projects like Pixelfed rather than building front ends for Instagram that get shut down.
- pcora 5y ago
  How does Pixelfed makes money?
  - Jolter 5y ago
    Looks like Patreon if you read the web site. And Liberapay, I guess. It’s an open source “host your own” software, I don’t think they are trying to monetize beyond paying a living wage for the developer.
  - messo 5y ago
    It is not a company, but a federated network – anyone can run their own server and interact with the all other nodes (much like email). The software is open source and is a community effort, although the lead developer got a grant [1] that allows him to spend time to improve the project over time. 1: https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed#pixelfed-sponsors https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed#pixelfed-sponsors

annadane 5y ago

The next time you hear 'Facebook has purchased...' you know it's going to go to hell, Instagram is a prime example. Oh, now you need to log in to do anything. Oh, now there's an algorithmic feed... Mark Zuckerberg: not even once

ojame 5y ago
While I generally agree, pre-acquisition Instagram didn’t have a web viewer. You could only use it via the app, which required you to log in.
- annadane 5y ago
  Fair enough

css 5y ago

Projects like this make me sad for what we have lost. All of Instagram used to provide open RSS feeds [0]. They also used to brag about third parties making interesting things with Instagram data [1], [2]. You can see their old blog posts by going to [3], right-clicking and copying the link of a post, and appending `/embed` to the URL. [0] https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8755963247/introducing-hashtags-on-instagram/embed https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8755963247/introducing-has... [1]: https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8757679335/api-highlights-moby-starbucks-deftones/embed https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8757679335/api-highlights-... [2]: https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8756150468/a-real-time-api-for-next-generation-apps/embed https://instagram.tumblr.com/post/8756150468/a-real-time-api... [3]: https://instagram.tumblr.com/archive/filter-by/text https://instagram.tumblr.com/archive/filter-by/text

gryn 5y ago
well that's the difference between a company at a stage where it's trying to get more popular by getting approval from people and one where's it trying to squeeze what it can from you because it's established well enough. I hope we can get a less closed corporate web in the future by some miracle, but I'm not optimistic about that.
- rapnie 5y ago
  How about a fully open standards-based non-corporate web: https://fediverse.party https://fediverse.party
  - edhelas 5y ago
    We also have RSS/Atom for that ;) XMPP can easily embed Atom in Pubsub feeds, this brings this kind of results https://mov.im/?node/news.movim.eu/TorrentFreak https://mov.im/?node/news.movim.eu/TorrentFreak
PostThisTooFast 5y ago
This is why you don't waste time or money building something on a third party's platform that can be taken away at any moment.

valyagolev 5y ago

Apart from the obvious possibility of IP ban (that there's only one way to circumvent), I think parsing is the most brittle part of this. If I needed to make something that would just survive without me rewriting it all the time, I would do away with parsing somehow, at all. E.g. instead of trying to parse anything, just load it in a browser (headless, or even real) and just somehow see where the images are (from the requests log, or from the screenshot).

commoner 5y ago

This submission should not have been renamed to "Show HN" since I'm not the author. Credits go to Cadence Ember (~cadence on SourceHut): Website: https://cadence.moe https://cadence.moe SourceHut: https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/ https://git.sr.ht/~cadence/ GitHub: https://github.com/cloudrac3r https://github.com/cloudrac3r Contact/Donate: https://cadence.moe/about/contact https://cadence.moe/about/contact Patreon (linked from contact page): https://www.patreon.com/papiophidian https://www.patreon.com/papiophidian

dang 5y ago
Sorry! I misread your comments as indicating that you're the author. Fixed now. Thank for letting us know.
- commoner 5y ago
  Thanks, dang!

m0ngr31 5y ago

I run an instance of this for the sole purpose of having an Instagram RSS feed. I have a telegram bot run a muted channel that pulls feeds from various subreddits, some public Instagram accounts, and some random blogs. I've found it helps me from browsing aimlessly throughout the day.

jeffgreco 5y ago

Since embeds are always accessible, I created a quick page and iOS Shortcut to allow for easier viewing of specific Instagram post links. Just append the ID to https://instaembed.github.io/INSTA_ID_HERE https://instaembed.github.io/INSTA_ID_HERE This shortcut will do it automatically if you share an Insta link to it: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e939f9755fc8499c85954aa1790b5205 https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e939f9755fc8499c85954aa1790...

grae_QED 5y ago

This is fantastic. I was just complaining today about how obnoxious not having an Instagram is. That is trying to view an Instagram profile without having one yourself. Either you can only scroll so far down the profile page and be prompted to sign in, or you can't even view the profile without signing in. It's such cancer. But this is the exact solution I was looking for!