Why does using client Id provide different results than using an access token for the Instagram API

Question

I am trying to get the latest photos with the tag "mullet". The instagram documentation says that to do that I should type https://api.instagram.com/v1/tags/snow/media/recent? and then either client_id=CLIENT-ID or access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN

In my experience, using a client ID does not provide quick results, while using a client ID does. Does anybody know why this is?

Answer 1

Your question repeats client ID, so not sure which one actually works faster for you. But my stab at explaining it is as follows:

• Client ID returns only public photos with the tag
• Access token is user specific, so it will return all public photos as well as private photos that the user has access to (ie photos of private users that the user is following)

Since there's a little extra processing involved, it stands to reason that using access token would be a little slower, is that what you're seeing?