Twitter is a social networking site that was created in 2006. Users send "tweets" to let people know what they are doing. It was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams.
Twitter is a social networking site that was created in 2006. Users send “tweets” to let people know what they are doing. It was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. Prior to building the service, they were working on a podcast directory called Odeo.
Odeo was a directory and search destination website for RSS-syndicated audio and video. It employed tools that enabled users to create, record, and share podcasts with a simple Adobe Flash-based interface.
When iTunes 4.9 was released, it ultimately made Odeo irrelevant. The people behind the company went on to create a service called Twttr. Twttr would eventually be called Twitter. iTunes 4.9, believe it or not, ultimately led to the creation of one of the most popular social networks in the world.
The major turning point for service’s popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference. Over the next few years, Twitter began to see rapid growth. For mobile devices, it originally relied upon third-party apps. In 2010, Twitter acquired application developer Atebits. Atebits had built the Twitter app known as Tweetie for the Mac and iPhone. It was renamed as Twitter and released for free.
Over the years, the apps have seen various revisions. There are currently versions available for iOS while desktop users must either use the web interface or a third party app like Tweetbot or Twitterrific.
Canadian rapper Drake has released an unexpected new mixtape album on iTunes, announcing it on Twitter as it went live. The album, entitled If you’re reading this it’s too late, was added to iTunes shortly before midnight ET … Expand Expanding Close
The popular news reading service Flipboard is becoming more than an app on your iPhone or iPad today as it launches a web version for the first time. Flipboard first launched on the iPad in 2010 and later released a version specifically for the iPhone, and now Mac users can access Flipboard from any browser with today’s launch of the web version. Expand Expanding Close
Twitter CFO Anthony Noto announced today that the social network was placing the blame for 4 million lost users squarely on Apple’s shoulders, saying that the company had “lost approximately 4 million net users due to rollouts of iOS 8” during an earnings call.
The logic here, Business Insider explains, is that the Shared Links section in iOS 7’s version of Safari automatically updated to pull in the latest links from a users Twitter feed. In iOS 8 this feature has been shifted to use a manual refresh. As a result, users who were previously counted when their phones checked for those shared links were no longer listed among the service’s monthly active users.
But Twitter wasn’t done playing the blame game just yet. The microblogging service went on to say that as many as 1 million users had upgraded their iPhones and simply forgotten their passwords or failed to reinstall the Twitter app, leading to even fewer active users thanks to Apple.
Overall Twitter reported 288 million monthly active users for Q4 2014.
Update: Probably with a little push from Apple, Twitter now says:
Mark Jardine, designer for Tapbots apps including the popular Tweetbot app, tweeted a photo teasing the upcoming redesign of the Mac version for the third party Twitter client; the current version of Tweetbot for Mac features a heavier design aesthetic than the general user interface introduced with OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Expand Expanding Close
Twitter announced last November that it had a number of new features on its roadmap for this year, and today the social network says two of those features are starting to roll out to users. Starting this week Twitter will start allowing users to capture and share videos right from the camera in the mobile app, and direct messages will soon support group chatting for the first time. Here’s how the new video and group direct message features work: Expand Expanding Close
The Twitterific iOS app has been updated to version 5.9, with a bunch of useful extra features.
The app now supports multiple images in the timeline, allowing you to view them as a slideshow or tap directly on the thumbnail you want to view, as well as allowing you to tweet multiple images yourself. Many videos now play directly in the timeline, as do animated GIFs. Supported videos include Vine, Instagram and Moby.
Instagram photos also open within the app, you can view a user’s mentions by tapping and holding their avatar, and media links now open the source page. The full change-log appears below. Expand Expanding Close
In November, 9to5Mac brought you an exclusive interview on Twitter’s limitations on third-party developers with the Iconfactory’s Gedeon Maheux. In the original article, Maheux said that development on Twitterrific 5 for Mac had stalled due to Twitter’s strict limits on how many users can login to a particular application.
While Twitterrific 5 is the first application to have been stuck in development because of these limits, another popular client seems to have claimed the title of the first Twitter app for Mac to run into the token ceiling: Tweetbot.
Twitter this evening has announced in a blog post that it is rolling out a new “While you were away” recap feature to its mobile apps. Starting today on iOS and “soon” on Twitter.com and Android, a “While you were away” banner will appear in your feed, showing you the top tweets that you missed since you last opened the app. The company initially announced plans for a feature like this in November.
Twitter is about to get very nosey with its mobile subscribers, and if you’re among the millions of people using the company’s app on your smartphone, you’ll definitely want to listen up. The short-form social media outlet’s new app graph feature will soon start tracking which applications you have installed on your devices. This opt-out feature is being introduced to help the firm insert better ads and recommendations into your timeline.
You don’t need to go any further than iTunes to see the most popular iPhone apps, but a couple of days after Betaworks launched #Homescreen, an app which allows people to share their homescreens on Twitter, we thought it would be interesting to check the results so far. The above image was the result at the time of writing.
#Homescreen is an app with a single function: it allows you to share your current iPhone homescreen on Twitter. Betaworks uses image-recognition to identify the apps, and pulls together a constantly-updated image showing the most popular dock and homescreen apps.
Betaworks excludes Apple’s own apps, but does note that “between 45 percent and 65 percent of the home screens examined had replaced Apple’s default apps with third-party options,” reports TechCrunch.
One trend the company noted in a Medium blog post is the growing popularity of third-party messaging apps.
Facebook is Messenger is on 14% of people’s homescreen, Whatsapp is on 12 percent, Snapchat is on 11%, Path on 5 percent (while snapchat and path arent straight messaging app’s, worth noting them here for comparison), Groupme 4.7%, HipChat on 2.6 percent, Line on 1.5 percent, Viber 1%, Kik is on 0.5 percent.
Facebook, unsurprisingly, took the title of most popular third-party app provider, with 68.6% of homescreens having at least one of Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Pages or Instagram.
If you want to share your homescreen but can’t be bothered to download an app to do it, you can tweet a screengrab with the hashtag #homescreen2014.
If you open the Mac App Store right now and do a search for “twitter,” you’ll find results just like the ones in the image above. You may recognize the official Twitter app along with some of the most popular and prolific third-party clients. Right below Twitter for Mac you’ll find Twitterrific.
Twitterrific has been around for quite a while now, and was the very first native Twitter application ever built for Mac. It was also the first app to use the word “tweet” to refer to the posts on the network, and introduced many modern staples like conversations and replies. To this day it remains a popular choice among users and has seen many major updates and redesigns. It’s currently on its fourth major version.
In December 2012, Twitterrific 5 was released for iOS devices. The Iconfactory, Twitterrific’s developers, promised that a Mac version of the updated app was in development and would include support for the new iCloud syncing feature and an all-new design. Three days shy of a year after releasing the iPhone update, however, users were given what is currently the app’s most recent update. It included only two bug fixes. The developers have noted that the 5.0 update for Mac is facing big delays.
So what’s going on here? Why has it taken two years for any more news of the update? When will the new version finally be available?
The unfortunate truth? Not even the developers know.
If you have ever caught yourself peering at someone else’s iPhone home screen, be it the person sitting next to you on the subway or in a college lecture hall, look no further. New York-based startup studio and venture capital firm Betaworks on Monday released a new app called #Homescreen for sharing your iPhone home screen and discovering apps. Expand Expanding Close
Last week, Twitter announced a list of improvements coming to the service including enhancements to Direct Messages and video capabilities slated for next year, and today the social network started rolling out its new features as promised. With the latest version of Twitter for iPhone, you can now share public Tweets privately over Direct Messages with native embedding. You can see the new feature in action below… Expand Expanding Close
Twitter today shared a few details about its plans for the social network in 2015 including some new features around video, improvements to communicating with Direct Messages on the service, and changes to the timeline to help keep up with relevant content. Expand Expanding Close
Apple wants the third-party app marketplace for the upcoming Apple Watch to be a hit just like on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple has begun seeking an “Apple Watch Evangelist,” according to a posting on its official jobs website. This evangelist position is specifically designed to work with third-party application developers and promote development for the upcoming Apple Watch platform:
Facebook has added a nifty new feature that hopefully you won’t need to use too often: notifications of nearby disasters, and a one-touch means of letting family and friends know that you’re ok … Expand Expanding Close
Twitter has finally updated its Mac app with support for a few photo features the social network introduced over the past year.
Twitter for Mac users can now view and share tweets with up to four photos included, something introduced to iPhone Twitter users in May. The update also includes the ability to see and send photos in privately shared direct messages; iPhone Twitter users received this feature last December.
With iOS 8 launching yesterday and the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus hitting stores and delivering to customers tomorrow, a number of apps have already begun shipping updates to take advantage of the new screen sizes and software features. With several customers asking where the update for Fantastical 2 on iOS 8 was, Flexibits today shared in a blog post its plans for the iPhones 6 and new version of iOS.
The makers of the smart calendar app note that the current version of Fantastical 2 has already been released with iOS 8 support and that a version of Fantastical 2 optimized for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has today been submitted so users of the new device won’t have to wait long for the new version. More importantly, a version introducing a Notification Center widget and system extension will be “coming in the next few weeks.” Expand Expanding Close
International Data Group (IDG) is shutting down Macworld Magazine, the long time Apple periodical according to tweets by staff and conversations I’ve had with personnel. Dan Miller, Editor, Macworld tweeted the following:
The Macworld.com website will remain open [although as a shell of its former self -ed] with a reduced staff according to Miller, who himself is leaving in a month.
As a former contributor and fan of Macworld.com it is sad to see the publication go. Ironically, the transition from print to digital hastened by Apple’s own iPad and other online tools made the publication one of the last remaining Apple publications in print.
There’s no word yet on the fate of the annual trade show of the same name that has also taken a hit since Apple stopped attending. We’ll update as we hear more.
Update: Dan Miller wrote in to clarify that he never implied that the magazine “would be a shell of its former self” (even though most of the names and faces that were the backbone of the magazine have been let go). Expand Expanding Close
Seth Weintraub|9:37Apple making your typo famous? Priceless
We’ll, can’t deny it any more. I’m in Cupertino, CA. At the Flint where the iMac was launched and today … ? We’ll soon see!— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) September 09, 2014
There are DSLRs on tripods pointed at the cube, taking pics on timers. Whatever happens will be on time-lapse. http://t.co/MU0Ds02upk— Tim Stevens (@Tim_Stevens) September 09, 2014
Seth Weintraub|8:52Sage advice:
I'm telling you guys, don't go into that white box. You will not be the same when you come out.— Joe Brown (@joemfbrown) September 09, 2014
Descending into a nation of livebloggers “@9to5mac: Apple shares dedicated page w/ updates of iPhone/Wearable event wp.me/p1xtr9-1qnu”— Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) September 09, 2014
LOL
Shouldn't have used Apple Maps. “@cue: Just got to Moscone, where is everyone! 😄 #AppleLive”— Chris O'Brien (@obrien) September 09, 2014
Seth Weintraub|8:34He needs coffee?
Its Craig Federighi waiting in line for coffee like a normal. The hair blessed, they're just like us. http://t.co/wTLxrouiCI
It’s September 9th, and you know what that means: Apple’s biggest event in several years is happening today. We’re expecting Apple CEO Tim Cook and his team of executives to discuss two new and larger iPhone models, a mobile payments system, and of course, a fashion/health/fitness-centric wearable device. We’ll be following along and providing articles with the latest news throughout the day. This News Hub will embed the latest action from the ground at the Flint Center in Cupertino and provide an easy access view of the latest news articles. You can also follow us on Twitter at @9to5Mac for quick updates as they break, and all our updates below:
Tim Cook hinted at significant developments to the iPad line in describing the recent 16 percent drop in year-on-year sales yesterday as “a speedbump” in an interview with Re/code.
“We couldn’t be happier with how we’ve done with the first four years of the iPad. I’d call what’s going on recently a speed bump, and I’ve seen that in every category” …
He made that same comment before during the last earnings call and obviously that’s not the whole story…
The iPhone 6’s packaging might not only include a redesigned smartphone, but a redesigned USB to Lightning cable. While it’s unlikely that Apple will yet-again change the Lightning port introduced with the 2012 iPhone 5 anytime in the near future, a redesigned version of the USB plug could be ready for this fall. Sketchy photos of a reversible USB cable first surfaced on the web last week, and Sonny Dickson yesterday shared another shot of the cables via Twitter.
Like the Lightning connector, the benefit of a reversible USB connector is that it can be inserted into a USB port in either direction. This makes it easier to insert the connector in darkly lit or hard to reach places (like behind a desk). Due to uncertain sourcing, the first batch of photos did not seem completely believable, but digging a little deeper into the situation reveals that Apple readying a reversible USB iPhone cable is a real possibility…
TweetDeck for Mac was updated via the Mac App Store to version 3.8.4 and with it comes a new feature that will show regional and city trends. “You can now find locally trending topics for Regions and Cities, and add a column based on the trend.”
The update also includes a number of other improvements and fixes. You can now remove scheduled tweets from the Scheduled column by removing the time from a tweet and the other update also includes improvements for multiphoto tweets in large columns. In addition, the updated app fixes a few annoyances like the empty columns bug after a computer wakes from sleep as well as retweets with emoji not display properly.
– Fixes issue with empty columns after computer wakes from sleep.
– Regional + City level Trends. You can now find locally trending topics for Regions and Cities, and add a column based on the trend.
– Retweeting a Tweet with emoji no longer scrambles Tweet contents
– Removing time from a scheduled tweet now removes that Tweet from the Scheduled column.
– Multiphoto inprovements for large columns
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