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Twitter Officially Bans All Third-Party Apps [Update]
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Don’t care, I removed my account and deleted the app. Everything Meta is next! 😉
Twitter will become bankrupt in no time! Not enough revenue, $1.5 billion in interest on loans alone, plus paying employees. Plus, who wants to be in a cesspool full of bots with no site security or compliance?
Twitter today confirmed that it is no longer permitting third-party developers to create Twitter clients, with the information quietly shared in an updated developer agreement that was spotted by Engadget. A new clause under Restrictions says that developers are not able to "create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications."
This wording effectively bans all third-party apps such as Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Aviary, Echofon, Birdie, and others, and makes it clear that third-party Twitter apps are not going to come back at this time.
Last Thursday, Twitter stopped providing API access to major Twitter clients like Tweetbot, causing them to stop functioning, but at the time, provided no explanation as to why the APIs were suddenly unavailable. Twitter remained quiet until Tuesday, when it cryptically said that it was "enforcing its long-standing API rules," a change that could cause some apps not to work.
Third-party developers at no point received any communication from Twitter nor any warning about the shutdown, and Twitter never offered insight into what API rules might have been violated. As it turns out, Twitter is implementing a policy change that simply blocks third-party clients.
All popular Twitter clients such as Tweetbot and Twitterrific are no longer working, and the Twitter users that depended on these apps will now need to use the official Twitter app on iOS or Android or the Twitter experiences on the web. By cutting off third-party Twitter apps, Twitter will be able to serve ads to all users on its platforms.
Third-party Twitter apps have been around for more than a decade, and they were a popular choice for those who do not care for the default Twitter interface. There have long been complaints about Twitter's own app and the web experience, with third-party clients able to offer a much more palatable interface for many.
Developers had no notice that their revenue streams were going to be cut off, and they were not able to inform customers who paid for their apps about the shutdown. As Twitter has no communications team, little else is known about this situation.
The developers behind Twitterrific confirmed that the Twitterrific apps for iOS and Mac have been pulled from Apple's App Stores as of today. Until this afternoon, Twitterrific for Mac was still functional, as Twitter had not uniformly cut off third-party clients.Twitterrific subscriptions through iOS have been cancelled, and Twitterrific is asking subscribers not to request a refund from Apple as the loss of the Twitterrific revenue will have a notable impact on the business, and thousands of refunds could be devastating.
Article Link: Twitter Officially Bans All Third-Party Apps
Everyone keeps screaming about contracts, was it an actual contract or just terms of service that were agreed upon? Contracts can be argued, but terms can be altered as there is always a clause about changes being allowed. I know MR is more about emotional reactions and echo chambering/bandwagoning, but let's inject some critical thinking every once in a while.
Apple doesn't really need to help Twitter shoot themselves in their own foot
Thankfully, Tapbots is accelerating development of Ivory, and it should be on the App Store by the end of the month.
Hahah yeah exactly. Apple does similar things and all of these insanely biased people don’t think about that I guess?
Please think harder people for the love of god.
Apple doesn’t allow third-party app stores.
Apple has added their own apps as default on iPhones since their inception.
Need I go on? Or are you willing to admit Apple is bad bad too?
My suggestion: Go to Mastadon and mind your own business about what app I prefer to use. No one is forcing you to tweet. Just delete your account and go.
Ads are ALREADY part of the API, because the official Twitter client and the Twitter website are consumers of the API. The only difference is that they are allowed to access private API functions that third-party apps cannot.
The Elon Free Speech Revolution is in Full Effect!! 🤣🤣🤣
The more millions he makes, the more stupid decisions he makes.
Nah. It doesn't need to be banned right now. Because banning right now means giving Elon Musk a legitimate reason for a lawsuit against Apple.
If Apple was smart, it would just let Twitter self-destruct on its own, because Musk is doing great at destroying his own Twitter company, which he paid $44 billion to buy. LOL
it would be funny if it were true. Companies have to pay to use the API, it isn't free.
Most of them, including, Tweetbot have been annual subscriptions for a long time, because that was how Twitter charged for API access.
If he wasn't making money because of you there, how does it matter if he loses you?
It's funny, Elon's trying to figure out ways to increase revenue, but he basically cut off all revenue from developers.
Yes, I know this is all about increasing advertising revenue. But there's ways to do that without banning third party apps. They could change the API so that third party apps have to show ads, and any revenue from that goes to Twitter. They can also have different tiers, with a more expensive one with no ads.
Yes, I know this is all about increasing advertising revenue. But there's ways to do that without banning third party apps. They could change the API so that third party apps have to show ads, and any revenue from that goes to Twitter. They can also have different tiers, with a more expensive one with no ads.
The average user probably didn't even know third party clients existed or cared enough to try them.
What makes you think he wants to ban bots? Who do you think votes for him every time he crowd-sources a business decision?
Personally I think the destruction of Twitter seems deliberate. The people financing Musk have no love of Twitter...
Sociopaths don't care about other people's feelings.
The greatest gift in all of this is that Musk being a moron has finally come to light. He's not some tony stark Super genius. He's had a few good ideas, (and good bets) mostly backed by far smarter people. Buying a Tesla these days is straight up a joke. Better Ev's out there, and more on the way. They aren't reliable, and frankly, are dangerous compared to other cars on the road. Yes, their network of stations is currently better, but honestly? 98% of people's driving is local.
