Tweetro+ Windows 8 app released for $9.99
A few weeks ago, we reported that the popular third party Twitter app Tweetro for Windows 8 had been removed from the Windows Store. This was due to the app, from developer Lazyworm Applications, using up its allocated amount of 100,000 licenses.
Context & Ripple Effects
The free Tweetro hit Twitter's 100,000-token limit in November and was pulled from the Windows Store, stranding would-be users who arrived after the allocation ran dry. The fix from developer Lazyworm Applications is commercial rather than technical: relaunch as Tweetro+ at $9.99, converting pent-up demand into a paid listing.
The move lands in a Windows Store still proving its economics — Microsoft's own guidance on making money through the store dates only from July 2012 — and on a Twitter platform that has been tightening its grip on clients since acquiring TweetDeck in 2011. Pickup across The Verge, The Next Web, and Softpedia shows how closely the third-party-client community is watching each token-cap casualty.
First-order effects
- Users who missed the free window regain access by paying $9.99 for Tweetro+, giving Lazyworm Applications direct revenue where the free version had none.
- Twitter's per-app license allocation remains the binding constraint; the paid version does not lift the cap, so future buyers face the same exhaustion risk.
Second-order effects
- Other third-party Twitter developers hitting the same 100,000-token ceiling have a template to copy: convert scarcity into a paid relaunch rather than abandon the platform.
- A $9.99 price point sets an early benchmark for what Windows 8 users will pay for a social client, informing how other developers price against Microsoft's store cut.
Third-order effects
- If token caps keep forcing free clients into paid tiers or retirement, third-party Twitter access consolidates toward official properties like TweetDeck, with independent developers surviving only at premium prices.
- Platform owners gain leverage either way: Twitter controls distribution through allocations while Microsoft collects transaction fees on the workarounds its store enables.
The trend: Twitter's client-allocation limits are pushing independent developers from free ad-hoc apps toward paid listings, concentrating everyday access in official clients.