Twitter announces new API pricing, effectively kills 3rd party clients

lint2015 · May 17, 2018

Thisman said:
They base their app based on making
Profit whereas other apps on iOS which are more complicated and detailed are free or basically 0.99 one time fee or $10 one time cost and when was the previous update free. So which is it , free every update or $5-10 every update ?

They could easily have provided tweeting free and extra services on a cost model for a in app purchase but no they want you to pay for only a tweet you can do from twitter if you don't want any bells and whistles

On top of that the twitter app is now so much improved that from the videos i have seen of tweetbot it's a better experience using the official twitter app

If you don't want the bells and whistles, then don't buy Tweetbot?

You're literally complaining that the devs are selling Tweetbot to make money? What do you expect them to do?

Tweetbot has major app updates every couple years that are significant overhauls of the app, which they charge money for. All the minor app updates, which can include new features, are free.

I paid $3 or something for Tweetbot 3, then I think $5 for Tweetbot 4, so $8 all up and this is over eight years. That's peanuts for the utility of the app.

If you don't care for it and don't see the value in it, then stick to the official app. But don't complain about devs charging a fair price for their app just because you don't value their work.

lacer · May 17, 2018

Thisman said:
They base their app based on making
Profit whereas other apps on iOS which are more complicated and detailed are free or basically 0.99 one time fee or $10 one time cost and when was the previous update free. So which is it , free every update or $5-10 every update ?

They could easily have provided tweeting free and extra services on a cost model for a in app purchase but no they want you to pay for only a tweet you can do from twitter if you don't want any bells and whistles

On top of that the twitter app is now so much improved that from the videos i have seen of tweetbot it's a better experience using the official twitter app

paying ten buck ever three years for a major update to a piece of software is more than reasonable imo. Shit people pay 60$ for madden every year and that barely seems to change

tnud · May 17, 2018

NovaTangerine said:
Ah, you're the guy who runs the NESBot accounts, aren't you? How does this affect you (if at all)?

Btw, thanks for the work you put into keeping those accounts running.

It doesn't affect NESBot thread posting.
I will have to change some other stuff regarding the bot not related to the feeds though...

Mostly annoyed because twitter on my phone will be terrible soon.

Also thanks <3

Pimienta · May 17, 2018

BlastProcessing said:
They don't want to do that. Algorithmically generated timelines allow them to better inject ads and modify user behavior.

And all the latest memes. Because that's all I get lol.

famikon · May 25, 2018

probably explains why they killed Mac native client → https://mashable.com/2018/05/24/twitter-jack-dorsey-laptop/

Jack Dorsey (Twitter CEO): 'I don't have a laptop. No, I do everything on my phone'

Mafro · Aug 12, 2018

So this is happening on Thursday. Tweetbot haven't really said much other than this:

Is Twitter shutting down 3rd Party apps soon?

No. On August 16th Twitter will be removing the streaming API used by Tweetbot and other 3rd party clients. They have a replacement API with most of the same features and we are trying to get access to it. Even if we can't get access to this new API, the majority of features in Tweetbot will still work. In the worst case scenario we won't be able show notifications for Likes/Retweets and notifications for Tweets, Mentions, DMs & Follows would be delayed for 1-2 minutes. You'll still be able to read your timeline, mentions, DMs and post Tweets just like you do today.

That's gonna suck for following stuff like sports events or press conferences live.

famikon said:
probably explains why they killed Mac native client → https://mashable.com/2018/05/24/twitter-jack-dorsey-laptop/

They still do a Windows version though, so it's not really an excuse. There's still TweetDeck for Mac if you downloaded it before they removed it from the App Store, but that doesn't even support polls or the explore tab.

Chris. · Aug 12, 2018

GG-Duo said:
Premium pricing is $2899.00 per month for up to 250 users.

What the fuck. Are API usually that expensive or are Twitter just taking the piss?

I can't imagine anyone paying that. 250 users for $3k is just impossible to beak even on each month let alone profit

Deleted member 1627 · Aug 12, 2018

Man if Tweetbot dies then I'm done with that fucking garbage platform. It's the only way I've found to make Twitter a tolerable experience.

snesiscool · Aug 12, 2018

I've never heard of a company with a free service charging money for an API for that free service. Is this normal?

LL_Decitrig · Aug 12, 2018

I use a free online client called dabr:

https://dabr.eu/

It's about as close to old (c. 2009) Twitter as you can get, and if you decide you want the bells and whistles (eg: threading is very good in modern Twitter) you can view any tweet in that format by just clicking a link below the tweet, which takes you to twitter.com to display it. Dabr remains the quickest and easiest way to get a feel for what's happening in my timeline. I only follow 128 users (deliberately limited to be fewer people than follow me) and I occasionally use the mute button temporarily when a user gets too chatty or gets into pointless arguments with trolls.

I'm just going to have to wait and hold my breath to see if dabr.eu survives the API switch and the new pricing. I'd think twice about going back to using the twitter.com interface. It looks a little fussy and cluttered to my eyes.

rsfour · Aug 12, 2018

Is there a discount for nazis.

Probably. Fuck twitter twitter anyway

CrankyJay · Aug 12, 2018

lint2015 said:
If you don't want the bells and whistles, then don't buy Tweetbot?

You're literally complaining that the devs are selling Tweetbot to make money? What do you expect them to do?

Tweetbot has major app updates every couple years that are significant overhauls of the app, which they charge money for. All the minor app updates, which can include new features, are free.

I paid $3 or something for Tweetbot 3, then I think $5 for Tweetbot 4, so $8 all up and this is over eight years. That's peanuts for the utility of the app.

If you don't care for it and don't see the value in it, then stick to the official app. But don't complain about devs charging a fair price for their app just because you don't value their work.

This is a problem with the dev industry in general. People expect to pay nothing for hard work and good design. They undervalue or outright devalue it completely.

TarpitCarnivore · Aug 12, 2018

Chris. said:
What the fuck. Are API usually that expensive or are Twitter just taking the piss?

I can't imagine anyone paying that. 250 users for $3k is just impossible to beak even on each month let alone profit

You're paying for access to the data. By allowing 3rd party clients to consume and display that data they're undercutting what you're attempting to do on your platform. They're changing the way you intend your users to consume. So the best way to eliminate this is A. charge an insane fee B. completely neuter the public API

snesiscool said:
I've never heard of a company with a free service charging money for an API for that free service. Is this normal?

Yes

Mik2121 · Aug 12, 2018

I stopped using that service after seeing so many ad tweets pop up in-between my normal feed. I also almost stopped using Facebook (only check it once every two weeks or so).
Only social network thing I use somewhat is Instagram and that one I also don't use it too much. The advertising being thrown at me recently is just absurd, and I get why they do it but I'd just rather not use the service.

So regarding these news? Eh, if they go to shit after this (doubt it), it wouldn't bother me at all...

daegan · Aug 12, 2018

seeing this "outrage" at tweetbot is beyond me

I bought it once a couple years ago, I get plenty of updates, if they rolled out a new version i'd buy it again, and the idea that buying something once years ago means you're entitled to major overhauls and changes in it is frankly ridiculous

Jessie · Aug 12, 2018

Looks like Twitter is desperate for money if they're gorging people like this.

enzo_gt · Aug 12, 2018

McBradders said:
Man if Tweetbot dies then I'm done with that fucking garbage platform. It's the only way I've found to make Twitter a tolerable experience.

Tweetbot hasn't been tolerable with its abysmal search functionality in maybe 3-4+ years.

Deleted member 1627 · Aug 12, 2018

enzo_gt said:
Tweetbot hasn't been tolerable with its abysmal search functionality in maybe 3-4+ years.

I don't search for anything I just want to see tweets in chronological order XD

Halbrand · Aug 12, 2018

Damn I have a third party Twitter app for my Watch

ManaByte · Aug 12, 2018

daegan said:
seeing this "outrage" at tweetbot is beyond me

I bought it once a couple years ago, I get plenty of updates, if they rolled out a new version i'd buy it again, and the idea that buying something once years ago means you're entitled to major overhauls and changes in it is frankly ridiculous

Remember before Creative Cloud how much you'd have to pay for each new version of Photoshop?

killerrin · Aug 12, 2018

snesiscool said:
I've never heard of a company with a free service charging money for an API for that free service. Is this normal?

You'd think not, but sadly it's pretty common. Google in particular just raised the prices of their APIs ~300% a month or so ago.

mugurumakensei · Aug 12, 2018

snesiscool said:
I've never heard of a company with a free service charging money for an API for that free service. Is this normal?

Yes. Tons of sites do that. Some offer free or reduced prices based on intended usage, but, in general, you're going to pay even if the consuming client is sticking within some approved guidelines.

killerrin · Aug 12, 2018

mugurumakensei said:
Yes. Tons of sites do that. Some offer free or reduced prices based on intended usage, but, in general, you're going to pay even if the consuming client is sticking within some approved guidelines.

Honestly, companies just need to figure out how to embed Ads into their APIs so that they can monetize them without screwing over independent developers. It's part of the reason why RSS died out. It'd make the web a much better place.

Ikuu · Aug 12, 2018

killerrin said:
Honestly, companies just need to figure out how to embed Ads into their APIs so that they can monetize them without screwing over independent developers. It's part of the reason why RSS died out. It'd make the web a much better place.

How is that supposed to work? lol

mugurumakensei · Aug 12, 2018

killerrin said:
Honestly, companies just need to figure out how to embed Ads into their APIs so that they can monetize them without screwing over independent developers. It's part of the reason why RSS died out. It'd make the web a much better place.

That's not possible and not a good idea.

1) APIs exchange data in text form only.
2) The API would have to rely on gentleman's agreement due to 1.
3) Adblockers would inevitably update blocking such ads.
4) It'd make division of advertisement revenue even more complicated.

collige · Aug 12, 2018

killerrin said:
Honestly, companies just need to figure out how to embed Ads into their APIs so that they can monetize them without screwing over independent developers. It's part of the reason why RSS died out. It'd make the web a much better place.

A smart developer would probably be able to figure out how to filter them out after hitting the endpoints. To use Twitter as an example, someone with API access could easily determine if a particular Tweet being returned from the API isn't from a user's follows and just not display it.

killerrin · Aug 12, 2018

Ikuu said:
How is that supposed to work? lol

mugurumakensei said:
That's not possible and not a good idea.

1) APIs exchange data in text form only.
2) The API would have to rely on gentleman's agreement due to 1.
3) Adblockers would inevitably update blocking such ads.
4) It'd make division of advertisement revenue even more complicated.

Speaking as a developer myself, it's definitely possible to do.

I can imagine a system where a developer has to register for an API Key and supply it with every request. Mixed with an automated testing system that either uses the API Key Registration and checks to see if the ads were displayed; or serves ads through a proxy of sort so they can see if there was a request to view the resources for the Ads. Then you can toss in an API ToU and require developers to implement them as clickable which goes to the specified Ad url (and by proxy, registers as a click for the service).

As for the third issue, that problem exists whether its through an API or not, especially for web pages. But it would enable them to get revenue from Apps which don't have as sophisticated ad blockers, especially since these ads would be implemented through the standard Image/Hyperlink controls instead of the built in Adsense controls.

Number four isn't too much of an issue. All revenue goes to the API owner. If you want to remove ads for your users, then you could jump into subscriptions and such.

Deleted member 2474 · Aug 12, 2018

Mafro said:
They still do a Windows version though, so it's not really an excuse. There's still TweetDeck for Mac if you downloaded it before they removed it from the App Store, but that doesn't even support polls or the explore tab.

The Windows Twitter app is just a wrapper around their website. The Mac client was actual native code.

Leonard Spiddles · Aug 12, 2018

I wish Mastodon took off :(

Kyuuji · Aug 12, 2018

So twitter developers that have been having a free ride making profit from the platform are now shocked when they're asked to throw up cash in order to do so?

I understand the amount itself isn't viable for smaller developers but if you're there making profit off the good grace of a major corporation I'd be counting my lucky stars every single day that continued. Especially if you're egregious enough to attempt to hide that company's attempts to monetise.

jefjay · Aug 12, 2018

Kyuuji said:
So twitter developers that have been having a free ride making profit from the platform are now shocked when they're asked to throw up cash in order to do so?

I understand the amount itself isn't viable for smaller developers but if you're there making profit off the good grace of a major corporation I'd be counting my lucky stars every single day that continued. Especially if you're egregious enough to attempt to hide that company's attempts to monetise.

The issue isn't Twitter charging for this service, it's the insane price. $10+ per person per month is not viable for anyone. This is Twitter's way too push out these developers without looking like the bad guy. And apparently it's working... Good grace? JFC this is Twitter we're talking about here.

Edge · Aug 12, 2018

The only good third part app that ever existed was tweetbot and it was amazing, then I switched to Android and noticed how fucked this platform was. Yes I bought Talon but I could never get into it because Twitter was always an asshole when it comes to third party on Android. Twitter doesn't let third party apps use native push notifications so you only had workarounds on Talon for that and it always sucked, than I slowly stopped using Twitter anymore cause their own app is disgustingly bad, it makes me aggressive to even browse through the timeline. It's awful.

Kyuuji · Aug 12, 2018

jefjay said:
The issue isn't Twitter charging for this service, it's the insane price. $10+ per person per month is not viable for anyone. This is Twitter's way too push out these developers without looking like the bad guy. And apparently it's working... Good grace? JFC this is Twitter we're talking about here.

Oh please it's abundantly clear in the context that I mean by their good grace meaning them allowing others to profit from their platform without cost or fee. Not sure how that's perceived as anything else. I also covered the price at the start of the second paragraph, so should be obvious I know what the issue is.

I still maintain that if you're there turning a profit off the back of a platform of a major corporation without paying them any dues you should be doing so while counting your stars for each day that remains possible. Especially if you're working against what they are doing to monetise it.

Mafro · Aug 12, 2018

detuned radios said:
The Windows Twitter app is just a wrapper around their website. The Mac client was actual native code.

That doesn't surprise me at all. Their desktop support has always been pretty awful and, like on mobile, it's been the third parties doing a better job.

Kyuuji said:
Oh please it's abundantly clear in the context that I mean by their good grace meaning them allowing others to profit from their platform without cost or fee. Not sure how that's perceived as anything else. I also covered the price at the start of the second paragraph, so should be obvious I know what the issue is.

I still maintain that if you're there turning a profit off the back of a platform of a major corporation without paying them any dues you should be doing so while counting your stars for each day that remains possible. Especially if you're working against what they are doing to monetise it.

Wouldn't be a problem if they didn't treat their official desktop apps like absolute shit. There was a point where the Mac app went a year between updates which is just ridiculous. iirc they just used Tweetie for Mac for that like they did with the iOS app and rebranded it after they bought it. I remember reading on the Verge that towards the end of its life development wasn't even done in-house and it was outsourced to some other company.

Hopefully next year when iOS apps on macOS is open to third parties the official app on desktop might return through that.

Anthony Mooch · Aug 12, 2018

if you create list of people whos tweet you actually care about it stays in order. Like I follow 5k people but my list is like 200

Masoyama · Aug 12, 2018

Anthony Mooch said:
if you create list of people whos tweet you actually care about it stays in order. Like I follow 5k people but my list is like 200

What? I follow 105 people, including about 20 family members, 20 news organizations and just like 60 people evenly spread between the things I like.

Anthony Mooch · Aug 12, 2018

Masoyama said:
What? I follow 105 people, including about 20 family members, 20 news organizations and just like 60 people evenly spread between the things I like.

its a list feature you can create within twitter. Like a separate feed for people tweets you actually value

Anthony Mooch · Aug 12, 2018

Masoyama said:
What? I follow 105 people, including about 20 family members, 20 news organizations and just like 60 people evenly spread between the things I like.

https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists

https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists

Mafro · Aug 12, 2018

Anthony Mooch said:
if you create list of people whos tweet you actually care about it stays in order. Like I follow 5k people but my list is like 200

What's good about this is no ads, promoted tweets or likes from followed accounts show up in list timelines. It's like someone at twitter accidentally forgot to flip the switch for it or something.

Anthony Mooch · Aug 12, 2018

Mafro said:
What's good about this is no ads, promoted tweets or likes from followed accounts show up in list timelines. It's like someone at twitter accidentally forgot to flip the switch for it or something.

shoosh they forgot it exist. so its good

Fallout 4 Master · Aug 12, 2018

Remember when Photobucket subbing got really expensive? Lol

I doubt this will affect Twitter in nearly the same degree but maybe it'll at least kill off bot networks.

jefjay · Aug 12, 2018

I am surprised Twitter wasn't charging for this before. And while Twitter can do what they want, it's equally bizarre to me how quickly people run to their defense.

I just want a way to read my timeline in chronological order. Simple. Ads are fine. But making the top posts hours old makes Twitter useless to me.

Mafro · Aug 15, 2018

TweetBot update is out. Activity tab and streaming timeline are gone, as are push notifications for likes, retweets, follows and quotes. The Apple Watch app is gone too. According to MacStories, push notifications for mentions and DMs are delayed up to 5 minutes.

LiK · Aug 15, 2018

Mafro said:
TweetBot update is out. Activity tab and streaming timeline are gone, as are push notifications for likes, retweets, follows and quotes. The Apple Watch app is gone too. According to MacStories, push notifications for mentions and DMs are delayed up to 5 minutes.

Damn

TarpitCarnivore · Aug 15, 2018

killerrin said:
Honestly, companies just need to figure out how to embed Ads into their APIs so that they can monetize them without screwing over independent developers. It's part of the reason why RSS died out. It'd make the web a much better place.

This doesn't solve the problem though. Twitter is cutting the API so they can filter people into their app and deliver the experience they deem to be the right one. Facebook did this YEARS ago, and IG never made their API fully open for this reason.

It goes beyond injecting ads into the timeline.

zombiejames · Aug 15, 2018

Mafro said:
TweetBot update is out. Activity tab and streaming timeline are gone, as are push notifications for likes, retweets, follows and quotes. The Apple Watch app is gone too. According to MacStories, push notifications for mentions and DMs are delayed up to 5 minutes.

Might as well use the damn web app then.

WhySoDevious · Aug 15, 2018

Mafro said:
TweetBot update is out. Activity tab and streaming timeline are gone, as are push notifications for likes, retweets, follows and quotes. The Apple Watch app is gone too. According to MacStories, push notifications for mentions and DMs are delayed up to 5 minutes.

You can still manually update, right?

By pulling down at the top of your feed?

TarpitCarnivore · Aug 15, 2018

WhySoDevious said:
You can still manually update, right?

By pulling down at the top of your feed?

Yes, it's just the streaming API that was removed

Thisman · Aug 15, 2018

You all should update to the OG app as it's pretty damn good

LiK · Aug 15, 2018

Thisman said:
You all should update to the OG app as it's pretty damn good

OG app?

Twitter announces new API pricing, effectively kills 3rd party clients

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