17 year old teenager hacks Instagram API to create a Mac PC to Instagram uploading App ‘Uploader for Instagram’
A 17-year old technology whizkid has created an App which lets users upload images to Instagram directly from their Mac PCs.
Upto now we could upload images onto Instagram directly from our smartphones and tablets but adding one from PC was not allowed. Caleb Benn did just that by creating a new app called Uploader for Instagram which allows Mac PC users to upload directly to Instagram.
The real problem is that Benn didnt not take Instagram or Apple Store’s permission to create the App. In fact, he hacked Instagram’s application program interface (API) to create the App.
The App, Uploader for Instagram can become a go to solution for hundreds of Mac PC owners who want to share images directly. And Benn is minting money also. The App which went live on Apple Store retails at $4.99. It has already caught the fancy of the users who are downloading it in heaps. In fact, it’s netting Benn, a 12th grader who hails from Los Angeles and already owns two software companies, around $1,000 a day.
Instagram is not happy with the uploader and Benn. An engineer for the company sent Benn an email last Friday claiming the app violated the company’s terms of service and that Benn needed to “fix” his app by Monday. Benn didn’t, because “fixing” his app would have rendered it useless. He told CNN Money,
“I believe it’s entirely legal for my app to perform these actions.”
However Instagram or Apple Play can force Benn to remove the App because it has been built using Instagram’s private API by hacking Instagram.
You can download the Uploader for Instagram for your Mac PC from here.
It remains to be seen whether Benn becomes a millionaire before Instagram or Apple removes the App or whether Instagram buys the App from Benn for millions of $$$.
Either way, 17 year old Benn is destined to be one of America’s youngest millionaires soon.
