Spotlight users are completely safe from the upcoming Facebook and Instagram API changes that come into effect on October 24th, 2020.
Facebook’s Announcement
You may have recently come across articles online referencing the latest API changes from Facebook which will impact both Facebook ans Instagram embeds.
The official oEmbed endpoint documentation that references the deprecation can be found here and the official announcement can be read on the Facebook Developers blog here.
The Instagram API is always subject to change, but thankfully, this one does not impact Spotlight Instagram feeds in any way.
The part of the Facebook blog post that some of you may have been worried about is this:
Changes to tokenless access for User Picture and FB/IG OEmbed endpoints: By October 24, 2020, developers must leverage a user, app, or client token when querying Graph API for user profile pictures via UID, FB OEmbeds and IG OEmbeds. Developers should provide a user or app token when querying for profile pictures via a UID or ASID, though client tokens are supported as well.
This is absolutely fine for you if you’re using Spotlight. Our plugin is a Facebook-verified app that requires you to connect (and authenticate) an Instagram or Facebook account when using Spotlight, so the plugin is not affected by this change.
Coverage from WP Tavern
This news was also covered on WP Tavern here. As explained by Sarah Gooding…
In pursuit of a more secure walled garden, Facebook will now require all publishers to obtain developer app credentials in order to embed content that was previously available through simple URLs.
This essentially means that embedding an Instagram photo or view using just a link will no longer work. As a result, WordPress will be removing Instagram and Facebook as an oEmbed source. This means that the blocks from the Gutenberg editor to embed a single photo from either Facebook or Instagram will also be removed.
Should you wish to embed Instagram posts on your website, either on a page or just as part of a blog post, you may use Spotlight Instagram Feeds.
It offers a lot of functionality in the free version, enabling you to create stylish Instagram feeds and embed them anywhere on your site.
If you want to pick and choose the posts being shown, upgrade to Spotlight PRO to use its powerful filtering and moderation tools.
