rear cut off Makers of prominent apps like Tweetbot and Twitterific, Twitter today quietly updated its developer terms to ban third-party clients entirely.
spot Engadget, Twitter 5,000-some-word “Limits” section developer agreement Updated to a clause prohibiting “use or access of the Licensed Materials to create or attempt to create alternative or similar services or products to the Twitter Application.”Earlier this week, Twitter said it was “enforcing long-standing API rules” that prevent customers from accessing its platform, without specifying which ones. specific The developers broke the rules. Now we know – retroactively.
As Engadget points out, the Twitter client is part of Twitter’s history — Twitterific was created before Twitter had its own native iOS app. In recent years, they’ve gained a bigger following, partly because they don’t have ads.
Twitter’s attitude toward third-party clients has long been permissive and even supportive, even eliminate Part of its developer terms prevents developers from duplicating its core services. But that appears to have changed under CEO Elon Musk.
Image credits: Twitter
The decision seems unlikely to foster goodwill towards Twitter at a time when the platform is facing challenges on several fronts.in a blog postTwitterrific’s Sean Heber calls Twitter ‘increasingly erratic’ and a company he ‘no longer recognizes'[d] Because it is trustworthy, I don’t want to cooperate anymore. Fenix developer Matteo Villa called the lack of communication “insulting” in an interview with Engadget. (Twitter currently does not have a communications department.)
Twitter is under intense pressure to turn a profit, or at least break even, as advertisers flee the platform, spurred by unpredictable, rapidly changing content policies.The $12.5 billion company was liable for $300 million in the first interest payment and lost a estimated Since Musk acquired it at the end of October 2022, it has been valued at $4 billion.Fidelity recent cut the value of its Twitter stake by 56%.
Layoffs abound at Twitter. Some workers bring their own toilet paper to work after company cuts cleaning services, NY Times Reportand Twitter has stopped paying rent for several of its offices. Elsewhere, Musk has tried to save about $500 million in non-labor-related costs, closing data centers and doing a fire sale afterwards Auction Office Supplies to recover costs.
Twitter is also pushing hard with its Twitter Blue initiative (now has a annual option), designed to make it a profit driver.it plans to cancel the political advertisement, Chasing Campaign Finance in the 2024 US Election.while the company is It is said Consider selling usernames through online auctions.
