Twitter Confirms Third-Party Apps Like Tweetbot Were Intentionally Blocked

[Phreddyl]

People don’t care about the platform, they care about the people they follow on the platform. As long as their faves stay devoted to Twitter people will keep using Twitter regardless of Lord Musk. I like Mastodon, but it’s too geeky and complex to gain mass appeal.

Completely agree. I was just trying to make sense of it and I am a bit geeky but seems like a lot of work.

 

[Wildhope]

Twitter could have at least provided an explanation and a few days before they did this, just morally I suppose.

 

[Skeptical.me]

Twitter really is dying.

 

[0924487]

Uhm … it was / is Twitter NOT bothering to inject their ads in 3rd party calls of an API THEY provid(ed) themselves

What’s the point of injecting if they can’t measure it?

 

[0924487]

I don’t actually disagree with this take. Third party twitter clients, especially those that block ads, shouldn’t be allowed if they don’t jive with Twitter’s core business model.

I am not bitter that they are dead, but there doesn’t seem to be any acceptable explanation for Elon Musk executing this in the way that he did, save that he can because he’s the boss. The service just went down overnight, people were left in the dark, and then Twitter trots out some lame excuse in response.

Just come out on board and state unequivocally that twitter is not going to support third party apps moving forward, explain why, and give a clear timeline for the transition. It’s not that hard.

It just says more about his style of leadership than anything else.

Because they are completing with Twitter’s first party apps and the website.

Just like Tesla and Apple doesn’t have unlicensed retailers.

 

[svish]

Twitter is changing rapidly. So many changes.

 

[MacHeritage]

Twitter is changing rapidly. So many changes.

Yes, and it also looks like some shadow banning is going on too. No one is sure why but there are issues and it is effecting both huge and small accounts alike. Tweets are not reaching people like they used to just a few weeks ago.

 

[BvizioN]

Musk is doing what he can to kill Twitter completely. Just amazing watching him throw away tens of billions of dollars and hurt his Tesla brand in the process. Just amazing.

The man have a potential but he also have a major flaw. He is ridiculously obsessed with Twitter.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

He doesn't know what he's exactly he is doing. Poor guy lost a fortune and has daily headaches. But he did all this to himself. He needs to take accountability for it and stop blaming others.

No, I don’t feel bad for him.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Twitter really is dying.

Yes! it's dying but slowly dying. It should have died a long time ago. Twitter users should move to MySpace, LOL. At least there aren't any headaches there.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Sad that on a day Apple releases updated hardware the Twitter article gets the most comments. 😞

I think you need to do that math again.

The two threads that are just the announcements of new Mac Minis and Macbooks are 476 comments total.
All the threads today that are only related to the just-announced new Minis and Macbooks (announcements, availability, battery life, RAM, etc.) have 1,178 comments total.
This thread about Twitter (including the one I'm writing now) has 214 comments.

EDIT: Updated to 214 from 212.

 

[Marbles1]

All the 3rd party twitter apps should (and some are) refocus on making Mastodon user-friendly and simple for the average user.

 

[Nuno Lopes]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Twitter actually purchase a third-party app early in its existence and basically rebrand it as its official app because their existing official app was so terrible?

Exactly. This exposes what seams to be the lack of common sense of this move. Bureaucracy / Laws usually kicks in when common sense and good will is lacking by agents. Fundamentally these kinds of moves acted by some API owners have the single purpose of extorting if not imploding third party businesses that once were used and contributed with innovation to their ultimate formidable success. Worst, it slows down innovation in the ecosystem and ultimately hurts users.

Anyway, will see. Its such a waste of time and resources.

Cheers.

PS: Stopped using Twitter 8 years ago. When the signal to noise ratio started to kick in really high.

 

[pauloregan]

Lets face it, if we were Elon and had to make money out of Twitter we would have had to do the same thing.

 

[Janichsan]

"disgraceful", "unprofessional," […] Twitter demonstrating a "total lack of respect"
… "clueless, classless, and cowardly," … "terrible."

Welcome to Elon Musk's Twitter.

 

[Radon87000]

No problem with Fenix. Blocks ads too.

‎Fenix for Twitter

‎Enjoy Twitter without ads and browse your timeline in an intuitive chronological order, free from intrusive promoted content. Mute noisy or unwanted users, hashtags or keywords. Customise your main screen tabs by adding all your favourite lists and saved searches. • Enjoy Twitter without ads...

apps.apple.com

Not for long if Elon has anything to say about it

 

[diarbyrag]

Musk is a moron, he will get what's coming to him, hope Twitter burns his wallet big time ... another giant egotistical rich guy thinks he knows better, all about him and sod the little guys .. finally discovers who his father is ...

 

[darkpaw]

If you block ads and charge customers without paying Twitter...

Yeah, Elon will block you.

No one was blocking ads. The Twitter API v2 does not include ads in the feed.

Secondly, access to the API is chargeable, so developers were paying Twitter.

You are completely wrong, sorry.

 

[spazzcat]

And just like that, 4+ popular apps that someone spent years working on and put their heart and soul into are killed off just because one cowardly company can't compete.

Never base your livelihood on someone else's company.

 

[TheOldChevy]

But in order to access the Twitter API you have to have a key, and you only get a key when you agree to their terms & conditions, so actually these third-party devs do have contracts with Twitter.

Very good point. I din't know that.

 

[darkpaw]

No problem with Fenix. Blocks ads too.

‎Fenix for Twitter

‎Enjoy Twitter without ads and browse your timeline in an intuitive chronological order, free from intrusive promoted content. Mute noisy or unwanted users, hashtags or keywords. Customise your main screen tabs by adding all your favourite lists and saved searches. • Enjoy Twitter without ads...

apps.apple.com

Tried it on the Mac. Launched the app. Clicked the "Sign In" button. Nothing happens. Maybe they've broken Fenix, too?

 

[markgpearse]

I love tweetdelete. Use it often

 

[lexvo]

Musk is doing what he can to kill Twitter completely. Just amazing watching him throw away tens of billions of dollars and hurt his Tesla brand in the process. Just amazing.

How do you make 22 billion? Start with 44...

 

[gk_brown]

Uh... they pay a fee for API access, they had access that was revoked without warning and it took twitter 6 days to come up with that horsepoop of a statement today

API access is not the same thing as source code.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Damnit, at least improve the first party app if you're going to do this. It is an abomination.