Malicious App ‘InstaAgent’ Sends Instagram Passwords to Unknown Server, Posts Spam in Users’ Feeds
InstaAgent, an app that connects to Instagram and promises to track the people that have visited a user’s Instagram account, appears to be storing the usernames and passwords of Instagram users, sending them to a suspicious remote server.
An app developer from Peppersoft downloaded InstaAgent — full name “Who Viewed Your Profile – InstaAgent” — and discovered that it reading Instagram account usernames and passwords, sending them via clear text to a remote server – instagram.zunamedia.com.
InstaAgent is also using the credentials to log into accounts and post unauthorized images. Instagram does not permit third-party apps to upload photos to user accounts.
While InstaAgent isn’t particularly popular in the United States, it is currently the number one free app in both the United Kingdom and Canada, with thousands of downloads that puts a huge number of Instagram users at risk of having their information stolen. In the Google Play store, the app had between 100k and 500k users, and the install numbers could be similar for iOS.
Google has removed the InstaAgent Android app from the Google Play store, but InstaAgent is still available in the iOS App Store for the time being. Anyone who has downloaded InstaAgent should delete the app immediately and change their Instagram password.
I would say "Who Viewed Your Profile – InstaAgent" is the first malware in the iOS Appstore that is downloaded half a million times.
— David L-R (@PeppersoftDev) November 10, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsPasswords for other sites and accounts that were the same as the Instagram password should also be changed as a precaution. We also highly recommend a password management app like 1Password, which can generate unique complex passwords for each and every site or service. Instagram also advises against installing third-party apps that don’t follow its Community Guidelines.
There are dozens if not hundreds of third-party apps that promise to provide Instagram users with followers and other perks, and these kind of apps should be avoided. According to Instagram, these apps are “likely an attempt to use your account in an inappropriate way” as InstaAgent does.
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Instagram reportedly testing ads that use 3D Touch and Apple Pay
Instagram ads have been around for some time now, but a new report claims the company is looking to boost the in-app shopping experience. According to Digiday, the photo-sharing app is testing 3D Touch and Apple Pay support for those ads from companies that are looking to sell you goods. With the former tool, a long press could give users access to multiple offers or items instead of just one from the Shop Now button Instagram added earlier this summer. The inclusion of Apple Pay will tack on a convenient method for handling payments for iPhone and iPad users. As is the case with any rumor, we’ll have to wait and see when, or if, the test features make their way to the app.
Via: MacRumors
Source: Digiday
Instagram Begins Testing Ads That Use 3D Touch and Apple Pay
Instagram has begun testing various ads that will allow users to shop for everything from clothing to menu items at local restaurants, integrating new iPhone features like 3D Touch and Apple Pay as well (via Digiday). The social network has had ads appear in users’ feeds for a while now, but hopes that more unobtrusive shopping experiences that keep users in the app itself will attract bigger brands to the service.
“From an innovation standpoint, Instagram is where a lot of brands are putting the most eggs,” said an ad agency executive familiar with the tests. “Force touch gets interesting, because instead of quickly tapping Shop Now to buy this one thing, you can choose from two or three offers. It makes for more frictionless shopping.”
3D Touch integration will let users press harder on the ad to toggle between various selections from a clothing brand, for instance. The addition of Apple Pay aims to add to the “frictionless shopping” experience by letting users purchase something they see directly within Instagram, without having to visit the brand’s own app or Safari to complete the purchase.
Instagram, owned by Facebook, is attempting to get a cut from the sales of many of the products that its service generates naturally, according to Digiday‘s sources. Some of those sources fear Instagram’s commercialization due to the heavily-marketed advertisements being tested on the platform, suggesting the photo-focused service is best left as a “branding opportunity” for companies and leaving the sales portion to its parent site, Facebook.
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Instagram unmasks new curated feed on Halloween
Embedding curated feeds within social media platforms seems to be all the rage these days. Recently Twitter launched both their Moments option and the advertiser driven Promoted Moments as a way to keep users within their app while delivery a more concentrated source of content to users. In a bit of a surprise move, Instagram revealed on Halloween they have their own take on a curated feed ready for users.
If you happened to open Instagram on Halloween, a holiday especially well-suited to a platform focusing on sharing photos, you probably noticed the new curated content option as its availability was front and center on the homepage. Instagram merely invited users to “Watch Halloween’s Best Videos” so it is unclear whether a snappy name has been given to the new feature.
The video channel was available for 24-hours starting at 1 pm on Saturday and showcased the best Halloween videos that Instagram’s staff of curators could locate. The internal effort was headed up by Amanda Kelso, a community director for Instagram, who led a staff of a half dozen team members who pored through user posts to find content for the feed.
Although the feed revealed on Halloween showed how Instagram can capitalize on an event by providing a high entertainment value – after all, what better way to spend a few minutes than watching videos of costumed candy collectors – it also shows how Instagram can get in on the news cycle. Instagram hopes to challenge Twitter as the source for breaking news as revealed by users posting to the platforms. Just like Twitter is working on features like Moments to help users discover trending information, the best videos feature on Instagram can do the same thing.
Instagram is on the look out for more events to feature on the new video channel. Reportedly there are no plans to make the feature available to advertisers ala Twitter’s Promoted Moments.
source: Wired
Come comment on this article: Instagram unmasks new curated feed on Halloween
Instagram used Halloween to test a new, curated video channel
Snapchat has its Stories, Twitter has moments and, as of Halloween, Instagram has ‘Best Videos.’ It’s not the catchiest name in the world, but it delivers. The feature launched with a curated collection of holiday-themed Instagram videos all bundled under a simple headline: “Watch Halloween’s best videos.” Clicking it presents you with a continuous stream of trick-or-treating, singing, scaring and, of course, Thriller dance-offs.
Source: WIRED
Instagram launches Boomerang app with mini-videos
Instagram is all the rage these days. My 15 and 12 year old nieces can’t get enough of it and think Facebook is for “old people”.
Instagram has introduced Boomerang, which is a new video app that lets you turn pictures into quick loops, which is not quite a gif. Their followers are becoming more and more creative with their uploads to Instagram. Boomerang is an app which takes a burst of photos, and stitches them together to make a mini-video that plays forward and backward like an actual boomerang. Boomerang can be shot in both portrait and landscape mode and is just as easy to share to Instagram like any other photo.
Now I just need to log into Instagram and see how long it takes for my nieces to pick up on this new feature if they haven’t already.
The post Instagram launches Boomerang app with mini-videos appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Use Tribeway to share your favorite moments in life (App Review)
With a plethora of social networks that are cropping up everyday, and those that have already found the graveyard, it’s a tough field to get into nowadays. In order to make a name for yourself, you need to do something that is different than the norm, or make sharing your social status easier than what’s already available. With Tribeway, this is somewhat of a different take on social networks. From the “Trails”, to built-in messaging, Tribeway is one of those alternative options out there.
Setup
Tribeway is a social media platform that offers a different experience for sharing your favorite moments, and chatting with your friends. In order to get started, you’ll need to head over to the Play Store and download it for free. Once you’ve opened it up, you’ll need to sign up with either a Facebook or Google+ account. A little redundant, but necessary nonetheless.
After your account is set up, you’ll more than likely want to test the waters to see if any of your other friends have signed up with Tribeway. To do this, hit the Friends tab, and ‘Add Friends’. Chances are, you’re the lone wolf here, but there are some recommendations for folks you can follow. If you want to invite some of your friends to try out Tribeway with you, there is an option to invite as many people as you’d like, and it will invite them through Facebook or Google+, depending upon what you used to sign up with.
Once you’ve got your account set up, and your friends invited, you’ll want to head over to the main screen. From here, you’ll see a few tabs, a few other buttons as well. What you are presented with, is called “Trails” and is essentially your news feed. Here is where folks you follow can post groups of images and videos, and you can react to those with a thumbs-up, comment, or you can “Boost the post, which will make the post appear on your trails for all of your friends.
Usage
In the bottom right hand corner of the screen, you’ll find a Floating Action Button(FAB), which takes you into your friends panel. From here you can select friends to share your trails with, as well picking which images you would like to have posted. Posting a trail is actually a bit tedious.
In order to post a trail, you’ll need to hit that FAB, and once you select the images, you’ll need to create choose a cover image. Now, in order to even post the trail, you’ll need to sign in with your Google account, so that you can attach your Google Drive account. We aren’t exactly sure why this is the case, however, it’s just another step that needs to be taken for posting simple images.
There are a lot of steps that need to be taken just to post a simple Trail, so it’s a little off-putting, but once you get used to the process, it’s just a matter of tapping a few times. Not as fast as Instagram or Facebook, but hey, it’s another way to share your favorite images with folks on the interwebs.
Tribeway also includes the ability to chat and/or call your contacts. It’s like having Facebook Messenger built into the Facebook app again. Simply tap a contact, and open up the conversation. There’s no cost associated with the messaging service, so this is another alternative to something like Telegram or WhatsApp.
What We Like
- Easy to navigate interface
- Trails are laid out in an attractive fashion
- Messaging is built-in and doesn’t require any extra downloads
And Not So Much
- Too many taps to share a single image
- Not many people using Tribeway
- Doesn’t do anything that isn’t already available elsewhere
Overall, Tribeway is just another social network, and although it’s not as intuitive as others, Tribeway may be something worth considering. If you’re tired of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Google+, and want to give something else a shot, Tribeway is deserving of a look or two. However, remember that you can’t sign up without a Google+ or Facebook account, and chances are, none of your friends are on there. So you’ll need to invite them before anything else.
If you’re interested in Tribeway, drop us a line and let us know. We love connecting with our readers, so let us know if you’re using it, and we’ll definitely do some connecting.
The post Use Tribeway to share your favorite moments in life (App Review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Here’s Instagram’s new Boomerang app
Instagram has published a new application to the Play Store. Dubbed Boomerang, it’s aimed at capturing mini video clips that loop back and forth, which you’ll be able to share with friends or family.
Here’s how it works: find an object or something that’s moving, hit the capture button, and Boomerang will take a series of 10 photos of your subject and stitch them together to make a mini movie. You can share each movie you make directly to your Instagram account, Facebook, and other social avenues.
Click here to view the embedded video.
There’s not much else to it. It’s essentially a glorified GIF creator. If you want to give it a shot and create something amazing with it, just hit the download link below!
Come comment on this article: Here’s Instagram’s new Boomerang app
Instagram’s new Boomerang app lets you make 1-second video loops
Popular photo sharing service Instagram has just launched a new standalone application called Boomerang. It’s a very simple app that serves only one purpose – to help you make short, 1-second long videos that loop back and forth. Instead of the app actually taking a video, though, Boomerang takes a burst of five photos and turns them into a silent video.
Once you open the app, you’ll be presented with a single shutter button and a button for flipping your camera around. Hold down the shutter button, and Boomerang will take five quick photos and paste them together in just a few seconds. You’ll then be presented with a sharing screen, which will let you quickly share to Instagram, Facebook or any other app you’d like. Boomerang will save each clip as a 4-second video loop to your device’s gallery, looping the clips back and forth a few times so it can be watched on its own.
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Instagram has been going through quite a few changes as of late, with the photo sharing service recently adding the ability to share both portrait and landscape photos. Instagram also recently upped its photo sharing size to 1080 x 1080, which was a change most users have been wanting for some time.
Boomerang is now available for free in the Google Play Store, so head to the link below if you’re interested.
Instagram’s Boomerang app lets you shoot 1-second video loops
Slowly but surely, the Instagram team is building a suite of apps to help you be more creative on its photo and video-sharing platform. Following Hyperlapse and Layout, we’ve now got Boomerang, an app for iOS and Android that lets you shoot one-second videos — made from a burst of five photos — that quickly play forwards and backwards. They’re a little different to Vines and GIFs, given this “boomerang” effect means you’ll see everything periodically in reverse — presumably, it’s this element which Instagram hopes will spark people’s creativity. Like Hyperlapse and Layout, the app doesn’t have a self-contained feed, so the idea is that you’ll want to make these video snippets to share them on Facebook or Instagram. If enough people use it, these clips could diversify Instagram and make its feeds more interesting, pulling users away from rival apps like Snapchat.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/143161189?byline=0&portrait=0
Via: Instagram (Blog)
Source: Boomerang (iOS), (Android)
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