Tim
If you are an Android user who also scrolls through Twitter from time to time, it is possible you do so on one of many 3rd-party applications built for the service. Back in early to mid-2013, Twitter began a war on 3rd-party developers, limiting the amount of information an app could gain from the network, and even going so far as to limit the amount of users an app could have thanks to “login tokens.”
Falcon Pro, one of the more popular clients, was severely hindered by this move. Now, with Twitter in search of a new CEO, it appears the company has come out and said this move was a “strategic error,” and may soon welcome developers back to the platform.
Twitter’s Evan Williams, co-founder and board member, stated in a recent discussion that the move to block 3rd-party development was, “One of our strategic errors we had to wind down over time. It wasn’t a win/win for developers, users and the company.” Moving forward, Twitter wants to become a real time information network, and with a need to grow revenue to keep investors happy, the company may soon allow for a more open platform for developers to work on, as long as Twitter can get a cut.
“Twitter should be more of a platform than it is,” Williams continued. “There are a lot of things going on. New products, new source of revenue.”
As an avid Twitter user, I only use 3rd-party applications released to Google Play, as I find the official Twitter app to be quite poor in terms of features I want. I use Fenix, personally, but as stated previously, there is a gang of apps to choose from.
From a user’s standpoint, should Twitter’s welcoming of 3rd-party development be celebrated, or is too late?
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