Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 1 billion monthly active users. However, if you want to access Instagram's features programmatically, you might find it challenging to use their official public API, which has many limitations and restrictions.
Fortunately, there is a way to use Instagram's private API in Java, which is the same API that their Android app uses. This way, you can access most of the functionality that the official app offers, such as uploading photos, sending direct messages, searching for users and hashtags, and more.
In this article, we will show you how to download and use an Instagram Java app that lets you interact with Instagram's private API in a simple and flexible way. We will also discuss some of the benefits of using this app over the public API.
Instagram Java app is a Java library that provides requests that emulate the Android Instagram app. It is based on another library called instagram4j, which is a Java wrapper using OkHttpClient for Instagram's private API.
Instagram Java app simplifies the usage of instagram4j by providing a line of code for every operation. You can surf Instagram programmatically, build bots, scrape data, and do a lot more with this app.
Instagram Java app is compatible with Java 8+ and uses okhttpclient, jackson-databind, slf4j-api, and apache commons codec as dependencies.
There are many reasons why you might want to use an Instagram Java app instead of the public API. Here are some of them:
To install and use Instagram Java app, you need to follow these steps:
The first step is to download the instagram4j library from its GitHub repository. You can either clone the repository or download the zip file and extract it.
Alternatively, you can use a dependency management tool like Maven or Gradle to add instagram4j to your project. For example, if you are using Maven, you can add this snippet to your pom.xml file:
The next step is to add the instagram4j library as a dependency to your project. You can do this by adding the jar file to your classpath or by using a build tool like Maven or Gradle.
For example, if you are using Eclipse, you can right-click on your project, select Properties, then Java Build Path, then Libraries, then Add External JARs, and browse to the location of the instagram4j jar file.
The third step is to create an Instagram client object that will allow you to communicate with the Instagram API. You can do this by using the Instagram4j builder class and passing your username and password as parameters.
For example, you can write something like this:
The fourth step is to login with your credentials or handle any challenges that might occur during the login process. You can do this by calling the login() method on the Instagram client object and checking the response status.
For example, you can write something like this:
Sometimes, you might encounter a challenge that requires you to verify your identity or device. This can happen if you are logging in from a new location or device, or if Instagram detects some suspicious activity on your account. In that case, you need to handle the challenge by following the instructions that are sent to your email or phone number.
You can use the getChallenge() method on the Instagram client object to get the challenge url and type. Then, you can use the sendSecurityCode() method to send the security code that you received. Finally, you can use the resetChallenge() method to reset the challenge state and login again.
For example, you can write something like this:
The fifth and final step is to send requests and actions to the Instagram API using the Instagram client object. You can use various methods on the Instagram client object to perform different operations, such as getting user information, uploading a photo, sending a direct message, etc.
For example, you can write something like this:
Now that you have installed and logged in with the Instagram Java app, you can start using it to interact with the Instagram API. In this section, we will show you some examples of how to use the app for different purposes.
If you want to get information about a specific user, such as their id, username, bio, followers, following, etc., you can use the getProfile() method on the UsersAction object. You need to pass the username of the user as a parameter and get a Profile object as a result.
For example, if you want to get information about the official Instagram account, you can write something like this:
If you want to upload a photo to your feed, you can use the uploadPhoto() method on the FeedAction object. You need to pass an UploadParameters object as a parameter, which contains the file, caption, location, tags, etc. of the photo. You will get an IGResponse object as a result, which indicates whether the upload was successful or not.
For example, if you want to upload a photo with the caption "Hello world!", you can write something like this:
If you want to send a direct message to another user, you can use the sendText() method on the DirectAction object. You need to pass the text and the user id of the recipient as parameters. You will get an IGResponse object as a result, which indicates whether the message was sent or not.
For example, if you want to send a message saying "Hello" to a user with id 1234567890, you can write something like this:
Using an Instagram Java app has many benefits over using the public API or other alternatives. Here are some of them:
By using an Instagram Java app, you can access features that are not available in the public API or other alternatives, such as uploading photos and videos, sending direct messages, viewing stories and live streams, shopping on Instagram, etc. These features can help you create more engaging and interactive content for your audience, or automate some tasks that would otherwise require manual intervention.
By using an Instagram Java app, you can customize and modify the app according to your needs and preferences. You can add new features, change the parameters, or tweak the code as you wish. You can also integrate the app with other libraries or frameworks that you are using in your project, such as Spring Boot, Apache Spark, etc. This way, you can create a unique and personalized app that suits your goals and requirements.
By using an Instagram Java app, you can improve the performance and scalability of your app by using multithreading, caching, batching, and other techniques. You can make multiple requests in parallel, store data in memory or disk, group requests into batches, and optimize the network traffic. You can also use cloud services or distributed systems to handle large-scale data processing and storage. This way, you can increase the speed and efficiency of your app, and handle more users and data without compromising the quality or reliability.
In this article, we have shown you how to download and use an Instagram Java app that lets you interact with Instagram's private API in a simple and flexible way. We have also discussed some of the benefits of using this app over the public API or other alternatives.
With an Instagram Java app, you can access features that are not available in the public API, such as uploading photos and videos, sending direct messages, viewing stories and live streams, shopping on Instagram, etc. You can also customize and modify the app according to your needs and preferences, and improve the performance and scalability of your app by using various techniques.
If you are looking for a way to surf Instagram programmatically, build bots, scrape data, or do a lot more with Instagram's private API in Java, then an Instagram Java app is a great option for you. You can download it from its GitHub repository or use a dependency management tool like Maven or Gradle to add it to your project.