No More Third Party Twitter Apps?
If you're a die-hard fan of third party twitter clients such as Twitterrific or Tweetbot, you may have also heard the latest speculation that has been going around with what may put an end to these tweeting powerhouses. Developers were warned last March to discontinue production on third party clients but obviously, nothing has prevented them from doing so... until now. Leaked pictures and rumors are pointing to a single offical Twitter app that will create a universal and consistent experience for users.
It appears that Twitter may be striving for what Facebook has accomplished with their advertising; they want to expand largely on their advertising capabilities and revenue. By having complete control over all Twitter users and none of the "Mute" functions that Tweetbot offers, we will no longer be able to pick and choose what we wish to see on our timeline. By imposing stricter API guidelines, Twitter will be able to take control of the entire system with its own client and cut out the third party developers.
With the help of third party developers, Twitter has become a major part of our communication infrastructure, and by taking away the freedom to use Twitter's API, developers feel betrayed. Watch out for much more drama to come if these are indeed Twitter's future plans.