How did you go about sending/receiving all those snapchats programmatically?
Hi! I'm part of the Ranker.io team. We use the same endpoints that the Android and iOS apps do.
Is there an official API or was it just reverse engineered?
Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
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Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#12Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#13I don't get it. What is this? Could you explain this a bit better so I know why it is so special?
Hi, I'm part of the Ranker.io team. We basically built something on top of Snapchat, which is a relatively-new social photo sharing app with no API for developers. So we made our own APIs and made Ranker.io work :)
Still doesn't make much sense. Everyone knows what Snapchat is - how are you grabbing the images?
Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#14Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hi, I'm part of the Ranker.io team. We basically built something on top of Snapchat, which is a relatively-new social photo sharing app with no API for developers. So we made our own APIs and made Ranker.io work :)
Still doesn't make much sense. Everyone knows what Snapchat is - how are you grabbing the images?
We communicate with Snapchat's servers and pretend to be their mobile app. This gives us access to everything that you can do through the mobile app. For example, we can send messages, view (and save) messages, create new accounts...
Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#16Aren't snap chats supposed to self destruct? This is really cool.If you think it would be useful, I'd be happy to offer all your users a free custom credit card skin from CreditCovers.com with their photo on it if you'd like. ($10 retail value each) - I assume they all wouldn't redeem it but we could budget ~$100k of product for you for this or another promotion. Anthony @ CreditCovers.com if you want to talk.
Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#17I don't understand how any of these items could be okay with snapchat:
1. You are keeping chats that are meant to be ephemeral 2. You are acting as a snapchat client to create an API where there should not be one. 3. You are basically spamming users on snapchat to get them to add you.
Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#18So basically, you spammed 42k users, and tricked them into sending what they thought were ephemeral pictures but were instead permanently saved and displayed publicly on your website. And now you're bragging about it.
Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#19I don't understand how any of these items could be okay with snapchat: 1. You are keeping chats that are meant to be ephemeral 2. You are acting as a snapchat client to create an API where there should not be one. 3. You are basically spamming users on snapchat to get them to add you.
I agree. From Snapchat's TOS, "you agree to not: 1) Use any data mining or extraction methods in relation to the Services; 2) Interfere with or hinder the operation of the Services or any other individual's use of the Services in any way; 3) Inflict or impose any perverse or excessive burden on the Services in any way; 4) Compromise the security of the Services; 5) Use the Services for any purpose that is illegal, beyond the scope of their intended use, or otherwise prohibited in these Terms; 6) Utilize the Services to transmit spam, viruses, bugs or any material that could be considered threatening or unlawful in any way."
I think quite a few of those terms have been violated.
Re: Show HN: Programmatically sent 42k snapchats, created a social contest
#20So basically, you spammed 42k users, and tricked them into sending what they thought were ephemeral pictures but were instead permanently saved and displayed publicly on your website. And now you're bragging about it.
We tell users in our snap that their response will be posted online.