Twitter officially bans third-party clients in Dev Guidelines update, marking end of journey that helped popularize apps like Twitterific

Although there has been no announcement yet, Twitter has updated its Developer Agreement so that third-party clients are now banned. In the past week, we’ve already seen Tweetbot and Twitterific rendered useless after the company blocked access to their API.

Twitter later said it was simply enforcing long-standing rules, but did not provide any details or explanations. This time, an update was made to its Developer Agreement (obviously only from January 19, 2023 in the American version, and the last change in the French version is October 10, 2022). The update is prohibited from creating a service or product that replaces or is similar to the Twitter applications; It is clear that third-party Twitter apps are already banned.

Thursday’s updated rules clarify what that means: Applications means Twitter company products, services, applications, websites, web pages, platforms and other consumer offerings, including, without limitation, those offered through Twitter. https://twitter.com and mobile apps from Twitter. According to the Wayback Machine, a clause prohibiting alternative services was added to the rules with the latest update.

The rule change comes after Twitter quietly hacked several popular third-party Twitter clients, such as Tweetbot and Twitterific, since January 12. Currently, the developers behind the apps (many of which have historically shaped the entire Twitter user experience—Twitterific was created before Twitter even had its own native iOS app. And they’ve gained popularity in recent years in part because of their lack of ads) haven’t heard from the company about what’s going on. said they did not receive any information. Then, on January 17, the company’s developer account tweeted that it was enforcing long-standing API rules that could cause some apps to not work.

With the platform facing problems on multiple fronts, it seems unlikely that the decision will gain public approval. Twitterrific’s Sean Heber called Twitter increasingly bold in a blog post, calling it a company he no longer trusts and no longer wants to work for. Fenix ​​developer Matteo Villa called the lack of communication offensive (Twitter currently has no communication service).

Twitterrific: the end of an era

Below is an excerpt from Twitterrific’s post.

Twitterrific has been discontinued.

The sentence none of us wanted to write, but thought we should one day a while ago. However, we didn’t expect to be writing this so soon, and certainly not without warning of what’s to come. We’re sorry to report that the app’s sudden and horrific demise is due to an unannounced and undocumented policy change by an increasingly capricious Twitter — a Twitter we no longer trust and no longer want to work with.

Since 2007, Twitterrific has helped redefine the Twitter experience. It was the first desktop client, the first mobile client, one of the first App Store apps, an Apple Design Award winner, and it even helped redefine the word “tweet” in the dictionary. Twitter’s bluebird mascot, Ollie, was so popular that it even prompted Twitter to later adopt its own bluebird logo. Our little app hit the world big!

None of these incredible achievements would be possible without the generous and loyal support of you, our wonderful customers and fans. Your financial support may have paid the bills, but your spiritual support has enriched our souls, and for that we thank you so much. You changed our lives forever.

But as much as it hurts to say, Twitterrific for iOS and macOS has now been removed from both App Stores. If you have a subscription on iOS, it will be automatically canceled by the App Store.

Finally, if you were a Twitterrific for iOS subscriber, please do not request a refund from Apple. The loss of ongoing, recurring revenue from Twitterrific would already significantly harm our business, and any refund would come directly out of our pockets, not Twitter or Apple. Simply put, thousands of refunds would be devastating to a small business like ours.

Although this chapter is over, our story is not over. As we can, we’ll continue to improve our other apps, create new apps, do amazing design work for our customers, and post great wallpapers on Wallaroo and Patreon. Thick!

A company under pressure

Twitter is under tremendous pressure to generate revenue (or at least top it) as advertisers flee the platform in the wake of unpredictable and rapidly changing content policies. The company, which has $12.5 billion in debt, is due $300 million in its first interest payment and has lost about $4 billion in value since Musk bought it in late October 2022. Fidelity recently cut the value of its Twitter stake by 56 percent. %.

Cascade complaints

To cut costs, Twitter has not paid rent for its San Francisco headquarters or any of its global offices for weeks. Moreover, the owner of the head office sued him. Twitter also refused to pay $197,725 for private charter flights taken during the week of Musk’s arrest, according to a copy of the lawsuit filed in New Hampshire District Court.

Twitter executives also discussed the ramifications of refusing to lay off thousands of people who have been laid off since the takeover, two people familiar with the talks said. Musk has threatened employees with legal action if they talk to the media and act against the company’s interests.

Twitter has failed to pay a $1,092,000 bill on a software contract that expires in 2024, the complaint says, and the Elon Musk-led company apparently won’t pay the supplier $7 million in additional payments. Imply Data, Inc. sued Twitter in California Superior Court, San Francisco, alleging breach of contract.

Imply Data Inc. says that after paying bills totaling about $4.4 million under a custom software services agreement that runs through 2024, Twitter defaulted on its Nov. 30 quarterly invoice and reneged on its commitment to pay future bills. San Francisco County Court. Imply estimated its damages at more than 8 million dollars.

Imply, a company founded in 2015 and based in Burlingame, California, said its lawsuit is a clear example of Twitter’s refusal to pay what it owes other companies without reason.

In the complaint, Imply said Twitter paid the software company more than $10 million in four years before Musk’s arrival and was always satisfied with Imply’s product and its technical and support services. In the middle of 2021, a decision was made to extend the contract for another three years.

sent by overview of the complaint

According to reports, Twitter has refused to pay its vendors and suppliers for no apparent reason after being bought by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. This trial involves such a brilliant case. For more than four years, Imply has been licensing its proprietary Twitter software, and Twitter has paid Imply more than $10 million. Twitter has always been very pleased with Imply’s product and its associated maintenance and support services.

Thus, in mid-2021, the parties extended the term of the software license and service agreement for an additional three years from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2024. After that, Twitter made the first four quarterly payments of $1,092,000, a total of about $4.4. million.

However, shortly after Musk’s acquisition of Twitter closed, Twitter refused to pay an outstanding quarterly bill due on November 30, 2022, and Twitter reneged on its obligation to pay Imply’s future bills. Twitter to do this. It was therefore awarded damages in an amount to be proven at trial, but in excess of $8 million plus prejudgment interest and attorneys’ fees and costs.

Imply is developing a database based on open source software Apache Druid, as well as products for managing and monitoring Druid clusters.

“The New York Times” wrote on November 22 that “Twitter” is getting rid of some sellers. Imply’s complaint cites media coverage of Twitter’s refusal to pay vendors and says, “This claim involves such an open case.” Imply uploaded the $1,092,000 invoice to Twitter’s vendor portal, and the invoice was approved by Twitter on Oct. 5, according to the complaint. On Nov. 28, 2022, when Imply logged into the merchant portal, Imply learned that Twitter had removed the invoice and terminated the license agreement, the lawsuit states.

Twitter Blue, a lifeline?

The aggressive moves show that Musk continues to cut costs and bend or break previous Twitter deals to make his mark. His reign was characterized by chaos, a series of resignations and firings, account suspensions, and capricious decisions that scared off previous platform rules and advertisers.

Musk also tried to save about $500 million in non-labor costs by closing a data center and trying to raise money through an office auction.

Twitter is also heavily pushing its Twitter Blue plan (now with an annual option) and aims to turn it into a profit engine. It plans to overturn a ban on political ads, seeking campaign dollars in the 2024 US election.And the company is reportedly considering selling usernames through online auctions.

Sources: twitter policyTwitterrific post

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