It’s been almost two months since Twitter banned third-party apps from using its API to create alternative clients for the social network. As a consequence, popular apps such as Tweetbot and Twitterrific no longer work and have been completely discontinued. Now the developers behind these apps have announced new ways to let users support them.
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Twitter has been blocking popular third-party clients from accessing the social network since last week. This has caused apps like Tweetbot, Fenix and many others to stop working out of the blue. Unfortunately, it seems that Twitter prefers to keep banning third-party apps from its platform for no reason, as now the popular Twitterrific for Mac has also been suspended from Twitter’s official API.
Update: Twitter has just confirmed that it will no longer allow developers to use the Twitter API to create third-party apps for the platform. You can read more details about this on 9to5Google.
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Developer Iconfactory is out with the latest releases of Twitterrific for iOS and macOS. The updated versions include new themes, support for viewing full images, quoted tweets with images, and more.
Twitterrific has just released the next major version of their Twitter client for iPhone and iPad, version 6. The app brings many new features and improvements to the popular alternative Twitter client, as well as a new business model.
With Twitterrific 6, all features are usable for free. However, the app will feature ads and occasional prompts to upgrade. Users can upgrade to remove ads by signing up for a subscription or buying a $30 in-app Purchase.
A few weeks ago, I took a look at the best Twitter apps for iPhone. It was interesting to read the replies I got on Twitter from people who felt strongly one way or another about third-party apps or using the official Twitter one. People who like third-party apps often prefer them for reasons that do make sense. People who are fine with the official Twitter app (based on how they use Twitter) should stick with it. The great thing about the ecosystem (it’s hanging on by a thread) is that both third-party and first-party options work for people. It’s really one of those “what’s best for you” situations. This week, I want to look at the best Twitter app for Mac. Because Twitter killed its official app for Mac last March, third-party apps are all you can use (except for TweetDeck). Twitter would prefer desktop users use Twitter.com. While the Twitter website is fine for casual tweeting, people who use Twitter on desktop with any regularity will want a dedicated app. This week, I am going to pick the best Twitter app for the Mac.
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Twitter apps for the iPhone have been around before the App Store. Twitterrific was one of the apps released for Jailbroken iPhones prior to the launch of the App Store with iPhone OS 2.0. I would even argue that without the App Store, Twitter would not be the company it is today. While Twitter has done a lot to hurt third-party apps in recent years, there is still a somewhat thriving ecosystem. This week, I want to look at all of the Twitter apps for iPhone to see which one is the best.
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TechCrunch has published an internal Twitter email that includes the company’s explanation for shutting down their API that powered many features in useful apps like Tweetbot and Twitterrific.
While the email likely won’t convince irritated Twitter users who are seeing features removed from their favorite apps, the internal communication is the most open Twitter has been about its thinking on the matter:
After initially delaying major API changes, Twitter appears determined to flip the switch next week and break how third-party apps access the service. Twitter clients including Tweetbot and Twitterrific are already bracing for impact with useful features expected to go away.
Twitterrific is today announcing an update to both its iOS and macOS clients that will be removing certain functionality to be more in line with the upcoming changes Twitter is making to its platform.
The Iconfactory has updated Twitterific 5 for iPhone to include a true black theme primarily aimed at iPhone X users. In addition to the visual appeal, OLED screens don’t need to power black areas, so it will also save battery-life …
Twitterrific has updated its iOS and Mac app today with a mix of new features, improvements, and bug fixes. Along with support for 280 characters, The Iconfactory has also added some handy new ways to use muffling based on tweet length or the amount of lines.
The Iconfactory has officially launched Twitterrific 5 for Mac after a successful Kickstarter campaign for Project Phoenix earlier this year. Twitterrific for macOS is a totally new version of the Twitter client with a modern design that includes a dark theme, visual customization, muffle/mute/timeline syncing to the iOS app, and more.
A Kickstarter project to fund the relaunch of Twitterrific for Mac has now been fully-funded, enabling Iconfactory to proceed. At the time of writing, the project had raised $78,616 against its $75k goal.
Much of Twitter’s brand identity dates back to Twitterrific which was the first client built for the service, but Twitter infamously made it difficult for developers to make a business out of Twitter apps a few years ago with a tokenization system and API limitations.
The result has been almost zero competition in the Mac Twitter client space and a lackluster official app. Development for Twitterrific for Mac has been financially unsustainable so the desktop client has become outdated with every change Twitter makes to the service.
Now Iconfactory which developers Twitterrific is launching a new Kickstarter campaign called Project Phoenix that aims to fund development of a modern Twitterrific for Mac.
Twitter has announced a new update to its iPhone app that will make it easier for users to track down new people to follow.
Having apparently come to the conclusion that many users are eager to see more content they didn’t ask for in their main timelines, the social network will now present a list of users you may be interested in following at the top of the screen.
Facial recognition isn’t something you immediately consider when you think of a Twitter client, but Twitterrific has added the technology in a clever way to its latest update for iOS. Using Apple’s API for picking out faces in a scene (you probably see this in action the most in the Camera app), Twitterrific now enhances rich media previews by centering images around people rather than cropping around the center. You can see a before and after comparison above showing the new feature in action.
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Before the launch of Apple Watch, Twitterrific for iPhone gained support for a Watch app that featured a variety of capabilities. Now, the company has updated its iPhone app and with it come new features for both the Watch and phone. Version 5.12 of Twitterrific adds support for Twitter’s new quoted tweets feature, which embeds the actual tweet instead of simply quoting it as text. To do a quote retweet with Twitterrific, simply tap and hold on the RT button.
Twitterrific today has been updated with support for the Apple Watch. The update comes on the heels of Yelp also being updated with support for Apple’s latest product. The Twitterrific update bumps the app to version 5.11 and also includes actionable notifications. You can now reply to, favorite, and retweet tweets directly from the notification.
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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.
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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.
Twitterrific for iOS gets a welcomed update today that notably brings the ability to edit tweets with a simple tap of the “more actions” icon. Of course, in order to get around the fact that Twitter doesn’t actually allow editing of tweets, what the function is really doing is quickly deleting the tweet and opening the compose window with original tweet’s text. From there you can quickly edit and share it as fast as possible.
The app also gets a number of other bug fixes and improvements in the version 5.7.2 update available on the App Store now.
In other Twitter news, Twitter announced today on its blog that it’s launching a new mobile app promotion suite that will allow advertisers to promote mobile app installs both on and off of Twitter.
We have developed a full suite of targeting, creative and measurement tools to enable Twitter advertisers to effectively promote their mobile apps. These are being tested in a private beta, and you may have already seen some examples of these app promotions on Twitter. For marketers, this means a rich, native ad unit that combines the best of Twitter Cards and Promoted Tweets. Users can easily install and engage with apps, directly from the Twitter timeline.
While the Twitter Publisher Network will let mobile app devs run campaigns on Twitter with promoted tweets, Twitter is also teaming up with MoPub Marketplace for ads outside of its service. Twitter says MoPub is one of the biggest mobile ad exchanges in the world reaching over a 1 billion unique devices and serving “more than 130 billion ad requests inside Android and iOS applications every 30 days.”
Twitter has already been testing the new mobile app advertising suite with partners such as Spotify, HotelTonight, Kabam, and Deezer that you might have already seen in your Twitter timeline, but today it’s letting all U.S. advertisers sign up to the private beta through ads.twitter.com.
With the latest update, The Iconfactory has changed their business model for Twitterrific rather dramatically. Up to now, Twitterrific has been available for iPhone and iPad for $2.99.
However, Twitterrific has now changed to a freemium business model. This means anyone can download the app for free as an ad-supported application. There is also a selection of unlockable features available as in-app purchases.
The Iconfactory released a significant update to Twitterrific 5 today bringing support for a highly requested feature: streaming.
Just like Twitter for Mac and Tweetbot for Mac and iOS, Twitterrific will now present new tweets to you as they’re loaded alleviating the need to pull-to-refresh when you’re caught up on your timeline. You will need to enable it in the settings for it to work, and it requires WiFi of course.
The update also features a number of other improvements including list management.
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(via <a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6545163991_4cc0229e72_z.jpg" target="_blank">Flickr</a>)
Twitterrific 5 received a nice update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch tonight bringing a new user profile layout and pull-to-refresh animation as well as performance improvements.
Seriously, I think the Iconfactory undersold the major speed increase in the latest version of Twitterrific 5. Check out the full change log below.
Twitterrific 5 is a universal app (meaning you can buy it once and use it on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) for $2.99 in the App Store. The update is available for free for existing customers.
