John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 09.29.2022 08:Sep AM EDT

Apple Takes Down Ad-Free Instagram Client From App Store; Meta Condemns Client Creators

One of the recently most downloaded apps in the Apple App Store is gone for good.

Apple has reportedly removed the Instagram client "The OG App," which provides those who downloaded it an ad-free Instagram experience.

The creators of The OG App previously released the client on Sept. 27, catching the attention of thousands of Instagram users almost overnight, as evidenced by the number of downloads the client received, per Engadget.

The OG App Instagram Client Removal Details

In a Twitter thread titled "Dear Apple: You're helping Facebook bully your users," Team Un1Feed, the creator of The OG App, mentioned that Apple took down the Instagram client as part of the "enforcement actions" it took against them recently.

According to the team's Twitter thread, The OG App was allegedly able to garner 10,000 downloads since its release on Sept. 27, allowing them to reach the #50 spot on the Apple App Store and an average rating of 4.1 stars.

For those unaware, Team Un1Feed's OG App is an Instagram client that filters what users see in their Instagram feed. As such, it can remove reels, ads, suggested content, and other similar content, per the app's official website.

You may remember that Meta previously announced that it would more than double the amount of content from accounts users don't follow in an attempt to recommend them content they would find interesting.

As a result, reels from people users don't know became more prevalent on everyone's Instagram feeds, which was interpreted as them changing their platform to compete with TikTok.

Meta was also found to be in the decline, with the company's stock falling by nearly 50% and the $2.96 billion operating cost of its virtual reality research and product development sector, Reality Labs.

Thanks to these factors, people wanted to experience an ad-free and simplified Instagram app again, a desire that Team Un1Feed addressed in its thread and official website.

The team also reported that Meta had banned the personal Facebook and Instagram accounts of every single one of its members, even those not linked to The OG App.

"Meta is intent on taking extraordinary measures to suppress and censor us simply because we did right by their users," the team tweeted.

Justified Removal And Condemnation?

A Meta spokesperson told Techcrunch that The OG App violates its policies and that it is taking "all appropriate enforcement actions" on the matter.

The spokesperson also pointed the publication to a blog post about clone sites, indirectly saying that Instagram users' data are at risk if they logged into The OG App.

"A clone site is a third-party site that duplicates, in whole or in part, the content of an existing site," Meta said on the page it referred to. "Among other things, clone sites can be used to display people's scraped data, scam people, and damage the credibility of the original site."

While Apple did remove The OG App from the Apple App Store, it is unclear if it did it on its own accord or if Meta had the company removed as part of its "enforcement actions."