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Tweetbot Removes Timeline Streaming, Activity and Stats Tab, and Push Notifications for Some Features Ahead of Twitter Changes [Updated]

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Ahead of upcoming Twitter changes set to be implemented tomorrow, Tapbots has released an updated version of its Tweetbot app for iOS devices, removing several features that have been present in the app for years.

Timeline streaming over Wi-Fi has been disabled, which means Twitter timelines will refresh every one to two minutes instead of as new tweets come in. We've been using the Tweetbot for iOS app in a beta capacity with these changes implemented, and while it's not a huge change, the delay is noticeable.

tweetbot-800x533.jpg

Push notifications for Mentions and Direct Messages are also delayed by a few minutes, and push notifications for likes, retweets, follows, and quotes have been disabled. Tapbots says it is, however, investigating re-adding some of these push notification options in the future.

The Activity and Stats tabs have been removed from the app, and because the Apple Watch app was heavily dependent on Activity data, it too has been eliminated.

Tapbots says that it is sorry that the changes had to be made, but Twitter has decided to eliminate certain features provided to third-party apps without offering alternatives.
On August 16th Twitter will disable parts of their public interface that we use in Tweetbot. Because Twitter has chosen not to provide alternatives to these interfaces we have been forced to disable or degrade certain features. We're sorry about this, but unfortunately this is totally out of our control.
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Other third-party Twitter clients, such as Twitterrific, have also had to remove the same features that have been disabled in Tweetbot because of Twitter's new limitations on third-party apps.

Twitter is requiring Twitter clients to pay for Premium or Enterprise accounts to access certain features, and timeline streaming has been deprecated entirely.

Tapbots has not yet updated Tweetbot for Mac, but changes should be coming to the Mac app soon as well.

Tweetbot for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

Update: Tweetbot 2 and Tweetbot 3 for Mac have also been updated to work with Twitter's new API changes. Features that have been changed or removed are listed below:

- Timeline streaming is now disabled. Your timelines will now refresh automatically every 1-2 minutes instead.
- Notifications for Mentions, Direct Messages, Follows, and Follower's Tweets will now be delayed by a few minutes.
- Notifications for Likes and Retweets have been disabled.
- Activity and Notification tabs have been removed.

Article Link: Tweetbot Removes Timeline Streaming, Activity and Stats Tab, and Push Notifications for Some Features Ahead of Twitter Changes [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/08/15/tweetbot-removes-features-twitter-changes/
Twitter clearly wants its users to use its official app exclusively the way Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc., operate—but unlike those services, Twitter was largely built on the backs of third-party apps. It owes much of its core functionality to those apps. I'm not going to start using the official app more. I'm just going to start using Twitter less overall. Then again, maybe this is like when Apple's pro users complain that the company has become too consumer-focused. The majority of Twitter's users already use the default app to retweet conspiracy theories and send people death threats.
 
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What's strange about this is that only two years ago, Dorsey stood on stage and promised that Twitter would be more open to developers. This was their solution to falling profits. Now they want to limit third-party stuff again.

It's all an attempt to get you to see their ads. In reality, Twitter is long past its glory years. Too much corporate bungling and lack of innovation. Twitter is fast becoming irrelevant.
 
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Schranke said:
why does so many things have to move to curated time lines / algorithms bases... I just want to be able see things as they are posted in a simple line. Then mark what I want to get updated on per post basis...
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Because you simply can't see everything posted in your timeline with a chronological. Facebook has PILES OF DATA proving this. The average user would have more than 1,500 updates to view a day. No one is going to scroll through all that.

They studied the data extensively. By moving to an algorithm-based timeline, they were able to increase engagement significantly. That shows that people were seeing more of what they were interested in. When they had the old chronological timeline, they'd see a bunch of garbage posts from just a few users and stop browsing because they weren't seeing what interested them.

Argue all you want but until you can run your own study of millions of users and data points to prove otherwise, you're simply wrong that people want the chronological timeline.
 
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If Twitter really cripple third party apps, I won’t move to the official ads, sorry, app. I will simply delete my account. I’m out if they go ahead with this kind of crap. Twitter messes with your head sometimes - to much hate and anger. I honestly think people are looking for a reason to disconnect, it’s like an addiction. This will be the death of it. Sad
 
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i stopped using TB regularly when main Twitter app added autocomplete search. That to me was the deal breaker.

I kept TB around for the streaming timeline only -- which was quite useful during sporting events or breaking news. But with that going away, I see no need to keep the app.
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Because you simply can't see everything posted in your timeline with a chronological. Facebook has PILES OF DATA proving this. The average user would have more than 1,500 updates to view a day. No one is going to scroll through all that.

They studied the data extensively. By moving to an algorithm-based timeline, they were able to increase engagement significantly. That shows that people were seeing more of what they were interested in. When they had the old chronological timeline, they'd see a bunch of garbage posts from just a few users and stop browsing because they weren't seeing what interested them.

Argue all you want but until you can run your own study of millions of users and data points to prove otherwise, you're simply wrong that people want the chronological timeline.
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Why not?
I can read everything in a chronological order. I make my morning coffee and seat and read 250+ new tweets. It's way much better than seeing 'in case you missed' in your timeline 3 times in a row with the exact same tweets.
 
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iLoveDeveloping said:
If Twitter really cripple third party apps, I won’t move to the official ads, sorry, app. I will simply delete my account. I’m out if they go ahead with this kind of crap. Twitter messes with your head sometimes - to much hate and anger. I honestly think people are looking for a reason to disconnect, it’s like an addiction. This will be the death of it. Sad
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The amount of people who use 3rd party twitter apps is probably miniscule. Probably a rounding error for Twitter's user base. It may be heartbreaking for those who frequent MacForums and related tech sites, but for Joe Q. Twitter user, this has no impact on how they consume the service.

Now hate and anger and content are a different discussion.
 
I've used the Twitter API and found it a pain to work with, compared to Facebook.
 
bigjohn said:
if anyone is listening from tweetbot, i'd pay for those features to come back.
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To restore the features it would cost $12 a month per user to access the api and people complain $5/$10 once every few years is "too much" and that they should get all upgrades for free
 
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ericg301 said:
The amount of people who use 3rd party twitter apps is probably miniscule. Probably a rounding error for Twitter's user base. It may be heartbreaking for those who frequent MacForums and related tech sites, but for Joe Q. Twitter user, this has no impact on how they consume the service.

Now hate and anger and content are a different discussion.
Click to expand...

Since neither of us have any empirical data, I would disagree
I don't know anyone who uses the Twitter app and they all use a 3rd party, typically Tweetbot
I haven't heard anyone extol the virtues of the native Twitter app
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Because you simply can't see everything posted in your timeline with a chronological. Facebook has PILES OF DATA proving this. The average user would have more than 1,500 updates to view a day. No one is going to scroll through all that.

They studied the data extensively. By moving to an algorithm-based timeline, they were able to increase engagement significantly. That shows that people were seeing more of what they were interested in. When they had the old chronological timeline, they'd see a bunch of garbage posts from just a few users and stop browsing because they weren't seeing what interested them.

Argue all you want but until you can run your own study of millions of users and data points to prove otherwise, you're simply wrong that people want the chronological timeline.
Click to expand...

When it comes to facebook I doubt these two are related.
 
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