These external apps offered users various benefits, including a customised UI, custom timeline settings, and other enhancements. The apps relied on sourcing data from Twitter’s API to deliver these extra features.
On Friday, Twitter users first noticed that the third-party apps were not working. Soon after that, The Information revealed that the move may have been intentional based on some leaked internal Slack messages of Twitter employees.
No official announcement flusters users and developers alike
At the time of writing, there is no official word from Twitter confirming its decision to block API access to third-party clients. This has not just left users in the dark but also bugged developers of the aforementioned apps.
Tapbots, a prominent third-party developer, officially confirmed not receiving any intimation ahead of the ban. The Tweetbot maker also reached out to the Elon Musk-owned platform but to no avail. Interestingly, the Tweetbot maker is actively working on a Mastodon version of its app as revealed last November.
As Twitterrific lies in limbo too, its Twitter account poked fun at the status quo as shown in the tweet below.
State of the Twitterverse for Twitterrific, Tweetbot other third party apps. Spoiler alert, we don’t know much yet!… https://t.co/vJvHpqft3o
— Twitterrific (@Twitterrific) 1673632537000
Another developer Matteo Villa, who is the person behind the Fenix app, expressed his disappointment on the discreet ban. He tweeted, “There you go. The total lack of communication is quite insulting for all the people who worked on these apps and use them every day.I mean, the platform is yours and you can do whatever you want with it, but own your own decisions.” He continued, “And I’m honestly thinking of also pulling Fenix for iOS from the app store. People are still downloading it, and who knows if or when it’ll stop working.”
Twitter blue tick subscription: All you need to know
