Internal messages: Twitter intentionally suspended access to third-party clients last Thursday; staff questioned when an explanation would be provided publicly

The mysterious outage of Tweetbot and other third-party Twitter clients that began Thursday night was an intentional suspension …

The Information 2023-01-15 Erin Woo

Context & Ripple Effects

The outage had already left Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Fenix, Talon and other clients unusable, with their developers saying Twitter had not responded. Internal messages now establish that the third-party client outage was a deliberate access suspension rather than an unexplained technical failure.

It also extends a longer history of Twitter narrowing developer access: the company had previously said it would end legacy API support used by clients such as Tweetbot. The immediate issue is therefore both lost functionality and Twitter's decision to withhold a public rationale from affected developers and users.

First-order effects

Tweetbot and other third-party clients lose access to Twitter, disrupting the products and the users who rely on them.
Twitter staff are left managing an intentional enforcement action without a settled public explanation, even as developers seek answers.

Second-order effects

Third-party client developers must treat Twitter access as contingent on the platform's unilateral policy decisions, making maintenance and customer support harder.
The suspension directs affected users back toward Twitter-controlled ways of accessing the service, while reducing the practical role of independent client makers.

Third-order effects

The move reinforces access-layer power: when a platform controls the API, complementary apps can be removed without a product-level transition path.
If this approach persists, the Twitter client ecosystem shifts from third-party experimentation toward platform-controlled distribution and user experience.

The trend: Twitter is tightening control over the access layer that independent developers use to build alternative client experiences.

Discussion

@dmnelson@mastodon.social David Nelson on mastodon
There's been speculation that this might be a test to see if absence of third-party #Twitter apps affects engagement. But it doesn't matter anymore. We're watching the developers react in real-time on a competing platform. …
@nonproductive@mastodon.social @nonproductive@mastodon.social on mastodon
@paul Cool. — Force people to your crappy mobile apps filled with ads and garbage promoted posts, or to your antiquated web app instead of the OS native apps that offer a better experience. …
@gruber@mastodon.social John Gruber on mastodon
@thomasfuchs @glennf In hindsight my error clearly was not paying enough attention to Musk before this, and thus conceding too much benefit of the doubt. I hate to be wrong but always strive to openly admit when I am. …
@bigzaphod@mastodon.social Sean Heber on mastodon
Twitter intentionally suspended third party clients : https://www.theinformation.com/ ... (I think we knew that by now, but it's nice to see it “in writing” so to speak.) — (Another version of this story is here: https://9to5google.com/...
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social Chris Trottier on mastodon
Twitter were fools to screw over 3rd party app developers! — Not only do users now know Twitter removed API access, they now know that these app developers are making Mastodon clients. …
@ben@mastodon.adida.net Ben Adida on mastodon
every time you think ok, maybe Elon is gonna stop screwing things up for a bit, he surprises you with another major wtf.
@WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social Warner Crocker on mastodon
So (no surprise) the shutting off of 3rd party Twitter apps was intentional according to this article from The Information. Apparently the Muskies are working on messaging which is why no communications about it yet. …
@erinkwoo Erin Woo on x
SCOOP: Twitter intentionally suspended Tweetbot and other third-party apps, per internal Slack messages viewed by The Information. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
If the official client had been better than @tweetbot, I'd have used that. But it wasn't and isn't. https://twitter.com/...
@martinsfp @martinsfp on x
It's telling that the most insightful discussion links in Techmeme's coverage of Twitter intentionally cutting off third-party apps are Mastodon links. https://www.techmeme.com/...
@bobsymay Bobsy May on x
Remember when chumps and suckers believed he might make have spent billions of dollars to make it open source. Like as an act of generosity or something. Lmao. https://twitter.com/...
@mikeelgan Mike Elgan on x
A Twitter engineer told The Information that “Third-party app suspensions are intentional.” It came from an engineer, presumably, because Elon Musk has fired the communications staff. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@harrymccracken Harry McCracken on x
So much for transparency, not to mention a baseline show of respect for your users. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@tcarmody Tim Carmody on x
This matches what I've heard independently: Twitter cutting off third-party apps is entirely intentional (just with no private or public comms at all) https://daringfireball.net/...
@drskyskull @drskyskull on x
Twitter genius watched the backlash to WotC's protectionism and said “gimme some of that!” https://twitter.com/...
@carnegro @carnegro on x
The thing that's really dumb about this is that he could have easily negotiated for a cut of those apps proceeds or set up a price to access the API. Now he stands to lose the users who only do Twitter through the third party apps. https://twitter.com/...
@gruber John Gruber on x
@harrymccracken Zero respect for users, zero respect for developers who put their trust in Twitter.
@johntdrake @johntdrake on x
I will be on Twitter about 10% of the time if you make me use the garbage iOS client. https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Twitter deliberately blocked API access to 3rd party apps like Tweetbot. This was somewhat obvious as other API integrations aren't broken. I assume this is a revenue driven move as users of 3rd party apps don't see ads nor can they use Twitter Blue. https://www.theinformation.co…
@film_girl Christina Warren on x
Fuck this website, man https://twitter.com/...
@bettertdeck @bettertdeck on x
Not surprising. Anyway, consider BTD to be unmaintained and provided “as-is” because it's clear Twitter doesn't want developers to build on their platform so I won't spend any energy trying to do so. https://twitter.com/...
@chriso_wiki @chriso_wiki on x
What makes this all the more stupid is that lots of corporate users - and advertisers! - rely on third-party apps to manage their Twitter communications. Musk has just screwed over many of his most valuable customers and users, once again. https://twitter.com/...
@hbkirb Adam Demasi on x
We have proof now that suspending Tweetbot, Twitterrific, and 23 other clients was intentional. Tapbots are lucky to be making Ivory, and Iconfactory are lucky they have other apps. The others, maybe not so much. Such is the unending stress of being controlled by a gatekeeper. ht…
@erinkwoo Erin Woo on x
In the 36 hours since users started reporting outages, there has been no communication from @Twitter, @TwitterSupport or Elon himself, leaving developers like Tweetbot creator Paul Haddad in the dark. https://twitter.com/...
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Yesterday, @elonmusk posts that “Transparency builds trust.” Today: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@davewiner Dave Winer on x
I hope Twitter keeps the API going, but the lack of communication about recent changes is a bad sign. https://www.techmeme.com/...
@mike_enos Mike Enos on x
@mattrogowski @film_girl Hell, @Twitterrific invented the word “Tweet” and the Blue Bird
@martinsfp @martinsfp on x
Well, well, well - Twitter has deliberately cut off third-party apps. Although, “the reason for the suspension couldn't be learned' https://twitter.com/...
@aaronreynolds Aaron Reynolds on x
“using Twitter's own apps or website, my @gruber account shows a total of 7 mentions since January 5. Using Twitterrific for Mac... I count 239 mentions since January 5.” This is why @EffinBirds isn't replying, FYI, I straight up don't see your mentions. https://daringfireball.ne…
@dimensionmedia David Bisset on x
Apple: We treat developers like crap sometimes. Twitter: Hold my beer. https://twitter.com/...

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