Twitter Confirms Third-Party Apps Like Tweetbot Were Intentionally Blocked

[deckard666]

Nature and tech abhors a vacuum....

 

[Yptcn]

Yes, they do, but that's hardly a solution. People aren't going to make dozens of bookmarks and then go through them all the time to check for updates from highway patrol, weather services, police, fire, sheriff's, city, county, school districts, lifeguards, search & rescue, Coast Guard, airports, water management districts, etc. Scroll through Twitter and you can see all of that.

An 18-wheeler jackknifed on the Golden Gate Bridge during storms last weekend. A CHP officer posted an alert to Twitter while standing there. Do you expect that officer to update web pages at a time like that?

Do you expect every agency and business to have the budget for rewriting the code on their website, and redesigning the site, to provide for push notifications and then to provide the staffing to make sure it's updated 24/7? Because that speed is what Twitter allows.

So yes they have web pages. That's not the answer to my concern.

I agree 100% . Twitter has been very helpful for that kind of thing.

 

[definitive]

Twitter is a private company. It's not even publicly traded. They can do whatever they want when it comes to granting access to others.

All these companies are free to take their business elsewhere. There are tons of other social media sites they can repurpose their apps for such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc.

P.S. Most of the people who cried about leaving Twitter have not left it. https://www.axios.com/2023/01/17/twitter-media-sports-content-deals

 

[MacHeritage]

Another worry is that many official government outlets have been using Twitter over the past decade or so. If the bird app reaches a point of irrelevance, what will happen then? During tornadoes, blizzards, floods, hurricanes, mass shootings, missing people, etc., Twitter has been a way that official agencies have rapidly made public announcements & alerts. If Twitter dwindles in users enough, or if it "breaks," I wonder if that's all just going to move to FB.

Facebook? I highly doubt it. Facebook is 80%+ of the social media market (OK lots of dead people/accounts etc. but still...) and yet is not used for that purpose at all. It doesn't work the way Twitter does. You can't just search for something like that and get everything. I've tried and it is horrible and very cumbersome if you can get anything you are looking for at all. Twitter is simple and to the point and you can find exactly the subject posts you are looking for in emergencies or other public events.

Also, you don't need to have an account just to look at Twitter but with Facebook you do. I know so many people leaving Facebook because of privacy. Twitter is different and doesn't require all your personal info just for an account (last time I checked).

 

[MisterSavage]

Twitter is a private company. It's not even publicly traded. They can do whatever they want when it comes to granting access to others.

I don't think anyone's arguing that. The way they handled doing it was a train wreck.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Facebook? I highly doubt it. Facebook is 80%+ of the social media market (OK lots of dead people/accounts etc. but still...) and yet is not used for that purpose at all. It doesn't work the way Twitter does. You can't just search for something like that and get everything. I've tried and it is horrible and very cumbersome if you can get anything you are looking for at all. Twitter is simple and to the point and you can find exactly the subject posts you are looking for in emergencies or other public events.

Also, you don't need to have an account just to look at Twitter but with Facebook you do. I know so many people leaving Facebook because of privacy. Twitter is different and doesn't require all your personal info just for an account (last time I checked).

I agree that Facebook isn't the answer. But these agencies are already on FB and many of them think that's where they communicate with the public. Police and other public agencies live-stream press conferences, post press releases and do a lot of their communications on FB now. It's ridiculous if you expect transparency from the government, for many reasons. But they think it's easy, so I could see plenty of them going that way.

Also, some must enjoy the lack of accountability that comes with only talking to the people on FB.

 

[darkpaw]

Apologies if someone has already replied to this a bit later on, but...

-pre-Musk Twitter allowed for third-party apps to access Twitter despite blocking ads. Now that the biggest of these apps are blocked, all the users who only want the third-party ad-free UIs that these apps offer are essentially gone.

The Twitter feed (API v2) that developers use doesn't put ads into the response, so it's not that third-party clients were blocking ads, it's that they were never there to block in the first place. Twitter didn't put ads in the v2 API feed. If they did, I would still use Tweetbot because the UI is much nicer.

-Why on Earth just flat out block them when Twitter easily could have worked together with these apps to show ads, or let them remain ad-free if users pay a monthly fee to go ad-free?

Anyone who buys (or subscribes to) a third-party Twitter client is already paying Twitter because access to the v2 API isn't free. The developers of those apps already pay Twitter to use the API.

 

[Vlad Soare]

I think trying to find reason in any of Musk's actions is an exercise in futility. He just does things because he can.

 

[MisterSavage]

The Twitter feed (API v2) that developers use doesn't put ads into the response, so it's not that third-party clients were blocking ads, it's that they were never there to block in the first place. Twitter didn't put ads in the v2 API feed. If they did, I would still use Tweetbot because the UI is much nicer.


Anyone who buys (or subscribes to) a third-party Twitter client is already paying Twitter because access to the v2 API isn't free. The developers of those apps already pay Twitter to use the API.

Exactly! And if the third party devs were suddenly in violation of some rule why not let them know? They all expressed bewilderment as to what was happening.

 

[MacBH928]

I think there's a chance for that. I agree initial setup process is confusing and clunky but once you get past that to me my timeline honestly feels like I'm using Twitter most of the time. Once some bigger players like Mozilla set up their own instances maybe that will make it more mass market appeal.

I think once official organizations put out instances and serious attempts at clients like tapbots are doing Mastodon will see a serious spike in user base. I just do not like their double @ user names, maybe it does not settle well with my OCD

 

[MacBH928]

Twitter chose not to put ads in the API. They charge the 3rd party clients for access to the API and they could have injected ads into the API as well. They have the means to profit from it, but chose not to.

In past times, TweetBot was one time purchase. I know they switched to subscription but before that not sure if Twitter profited from the API

 

[gank41]

In past times, TweetBot was one time purchase. I know they switched to subscription but before that not sure if Twitter profited from the API

Twitter absolutely profits from the API they created. Any & All third party apps have to pay to utilize it. Tweetbot and a number of other apps were a one time purchase, and due to this API’s long standing, they made the decision that this is going to continue so let’s move to a sub model.

 

[MisterSavage]

I think once official organizations put out instances and serious attempts at clients like tapbots are doing Mastodon will see a serious spike in user base. I just do not like their double @ user names, maybe it does not settle well with my OCD

The nice thing is that once you're following and interacting with people you just see "@ username" in your timeline.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The nice thing is that once you're following and interacting with people you just see "@ username" in your timeline.

That's only if you are on the same server as them.

But since all the "popular" Mastodon servers are not accepting any new members... you'll have to join another server.

And thus... you'll see double @ for the followers in your feed.

But I honestly never noticed it. It doesn't bother me.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[MisterSavage]

They finally changed the terms of service to explain what's happening. They've banned “use or access the Licensed Materials to create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications.”

Twitter’s new developer terms ban third-party clients

Twitter has quietly updated its developer agreement to make clear that app makers are no longer permitted to create their own clients.

www.engadget.com

That's only if you are on the same server as them.

But since all the "popular" Mastodon servers are not accepting any new members... you'll have to join another server.

And thus... you'll see double @ for the followers in your feed.

But I honestly never noticed it. It doesn't bother me.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I meant in the body of a Toot, but you're right in that under the person's name it will show two @ symbols if they're not on your server.

 

[it wasnt me]

They've banned “use or access the Licensed Materials to create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications.”

So they basically provide an API which you are disallowed to use. Awesome!

 

[SB1500]

Come on, guys, how much more pain has Musk to dish out untill you leave that toxic cesspit? That guy is trying to save the world from twitter and all of those narcissists just cling to it.

I think given the strong response here to it all, we can kind of see where the toxicity comes from and actually, given all of the quitters of Twitter here, it will probably be quite a nice spot to be as far as the open internet goes! ☺️