Twitter users were taken by surprise as the beloved old version of TweetDeck made a triumphant return overnight, also bringing with the news of the (possibly temporary) restoration of free API access that once enabled third-party Twitter clients. This development came shortly after Twitter had disabled TweetDeck and implemented a paywall, rendering legacy APIs pretty much useless and banning third-party apps earlier this year. A lot of users were quite unhappy regarding the Tweet, so Twitter is clearly looking to make amends.
There has been no official statement from Elon Musk or Linda Yaccarino
Roberto Doering, the developer behind Harpy, shed some light on the matter, mentioning that they had temporarily revived TweetDeck by switching to the “old v1 API.” However, Doering expressed doubts about its long-term sustainability, as Twitter is likely to once again restrict access to legacy APIs and third-party apps, which still go against their Terms of Service.
Interestingly, there has been no official statement from Twitter, Elon Musk, or new CEO Linda Yaccarino regarding the return of the old TweetDeck. Notably, Twitter’s official accounts, including Elon Musk’s, remained silent, with the most recent tweet from the Twitter Support account being the announcement of the new TweetDeck launch.
Twitter’s recent introduction of the “new, improved” version of TweetDeck, which had been in preview for over two years, got mixed reactions over the globe. The company revealed that this feature would be exclusive to Twitter Blue subscribers and verified accounts, introducing a paywall to access specific functionalities. Twitter defended its decision to impose a daily limit on the number of tweets users could view, citing the need to address data scraping issues caused by AI models. However, it remains uncertain whether this limitation will be lifted once the situation is resolved.
As Twitter navigates these changes, it faces one of its biggest, most formidable rivals in the form of Instagram’s Threads app. Meta launched Threads to exploit Twitter’s vulnerability, resulting in the registration of over 70 million accounts in just two days. Interestingly, while Threads may incorporate certain elements from Twitter, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has indicated a lack of interest in promoting political or hard news content on the platform (at least as of now).
RELATED:
- Twitter Temporarily Limited the Number of Tweets their Users could Read
- Twitter implements login requirement to view tweets
- AYA NEO KUN teased as the brand’s best-ever Windows handheld
- Best Mid-Range Tablets of 2023 – Apple, OnePlus, Lenovo & More
(Via)
