• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 16, 2018

Due to what it’s calling “technical and business constraints,” Twitter is officially cutting off access to API features, on which many third-party clients rely.

“We’re removing support for some outdated developer tools,” Rob Johnson, senior director, data enterprise solutions at Twitter, notes in a new blog post.

“We feel the best Twitter experience we can provide today is through our owned and operated Twitter for iOS and Android apps, as well as desktop and mobile twitter.com,” Johnson said.

While not unexpected, the change is bad news for third-party apps like Tweetbot, Talon and Twitterrific. In the name of standardization and simplicity, the move is part of a broader realignment of Twitter’s resources and offerings.   

To that end, the company recently removed support for Twitter for Apple Watch and Twitter for Mac, while replacing its previous Twitter for Windows app with its own Progressive Web App.

Last year, Twitter warned developers that it would be retiring and replacing several features, including Site Streams, User Streams, and its legacy Direct Message endpoints.

Twitter has made some efforts to assist developers impacted by the changes, like building a migration guide assist in their transition from Site Streams and User Streams to its Account Activity API.

Yet, the company admits that its shifting strategy will negatively affect some developers. “Some Twitter-like apps will not be able to function the exact same way as before,” Johnson noted.

Moving forward, he promised the company is still “strongly committed to ongoing investment in our developer ecosystem.”