More third-party Twitter apps fall to 100,000 user ceiling

Tweetro and Tweet Lanes hit token limit 

 

 

A pair of popular third-party Twitter apps, including the only one designed for the new Windows 8 UI, are the latest to fall victim to the company's increasingly tight API restrictions.
Tweetro for Windows 8 has been denied permission to exceed the recently-introduced 100,000 token (user) limit, Twitter places on apps developed by outside companies.
The app reached the limit on November 10 and has been unsuccessful in his application for an exemption, meaning new Windows 8 users are unable to sign up.
Twitter has been progressively tightening restrictions on apps which access its timeline as it seeks to direct users to its official suite of apps and web services.

Does not qualify

Twitter told New Zealand-based developer Lazyworm in an email: "As you know, we discourage developers from building apps that replicate our core user experience (aka "Twitter clients"). We know that there are developers that want to take their passion for Twitter and its ecosystem to unique underserved situations. As such, we have built some flexibility into our policy with regard to user tokens – which went into effect September 5th, 2012.
"…Unfortunately, It does not appear that your service addresses an area that our current or future products do not already serve. As such, it does not qualify for an exemption."
The key word there seems to be 'future' as Twitter is yet to release an official client that plays nice with the new Windows 8 UI.

Tweet Lanes ends development

Another app to hit the 100,000 user limit is Tweet Lanes. As a result developer Chris Lacey will cease further development.

"It saddens me greatly to announce that going forward, I won't be actively developing Tweet Lanes as I have to this point," Lacey wrote to users.

"The cold hard reality is that with this immovable, 100,000 user ceiling, my plans for growing and eventually monetizing the app are no longer feasible.

"This will likely be disappointing news for many of you, but given I spent a good chunk of my spare time for 10+ months working on this app, believe me when I say this decision pains me more than it does anyone else."

The Twitter API changes will come into effect in March 2013, but the company, as evidenced by these developments, is already working hard on enforcing them.

Twitter buys Android security firm Whisper Systems

Twitter has acquired an Android security firm, but exactly what the social-networking company wants to do with it is currently unknown.
Whisper Systems announced on its blog today that it will become part of Twitter. Although the company didn't disclose an acquisition price, it did say that it will bring its "technology and our expertise into Twitter's products and services."
Whisper offers a range of security products--currently all in beta--that focus on safeguarding device data, network connections, backups, and calls. Considering that, it's quite possible Twitter will try to improve the security of its mobile apps with Whisper's technology.

That said, don't expect to see Whisper's apps, including TextSecure and RedPhone, to be available for a while. Whisper said that as part of its transition to Twitter, it will be forced to take its services down until the social network decides to put them back up. However, they will all be making a comeback.
For its part, Twitter hasn't publicly commented on the Whisper acquisition and has not immediately responded to CNET's request for comment.
Twitter has been on a tear as of late, acquiring a host of companies across several different markets. Last December, Twitter "acquired" personnel from Q&A startup Fluther and followed that up in May with the purchase of TweetDeck. In August, Twitter acquired Bagcheck, a small gear-sharing startup.

Twitter and iOS 5: Sharing made simple

Twitter is now fully integrated into Apple’s new iOS 5 mobile operating system, available for the first time today. Now it’s even easier to share and read Tweets on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Simply enter your Twitter login information into your device settings, and you’ll always be connected to your Twitter account. This means you can tweet directly from Apple apps like Camera, Maps, Photos, Safari and YouTube, along with third party apps, such as Chomp, Flipboard, LivingSocial, Instagram, MadPad, PopSugar, Showyou, SoundTracking and Zynga's Words with Friends.

You can also take advantage of the latest version of Twitter for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, which now allows you upload images directly to Twitter (pic.twitter.com). Download the Twitter app now from the App Store.

Twitter for Android – Now with Push Notifications and Multiple Accounts

The latest version of Twitter for Android. It includes some of the most commonly requested features from our users.
First, we now offer push notifications. Push notifications let you instantly receive Twitter updates – no matter what you’re doing on your phone. In your account settings, select “automatic refresh” and choose to receive updates for Direct Messages, @Mentions (from the people you follow or anyone), and Tweets.
You can also now use multiple accounts on Twitter for Android without ever logging out. It’s easy to switch between accounts to discover and share what’s happening in the world. Plus, we’ve updated the appearance of home screen widgets and added a bunch of other improvements and bug fixes.
You can download this updated version of Twitter for Android now from Android Market.

One Million Registered Twitter Apps

Application developers play a fundamental role in helping people get the best out of Twitter. As an ecosystem, we’ve just crossed one million registered applications, built by more than 750,000 developers around the world. This is up from 150,000 apps just a year ago.  A new app is registered every 1.5 seconds, fueling a spike in ecosystem growth in the areas of analytics, curation and publisher tools.

Investors and businesses are taking note. Since December 2010, more than $500 million has been invested in ecosystem companies, and more than a billion dollars has been paid out in acquisitions. This level of investment is indicative of the opportunity for developers and entrepreneurs to build successful businesses as part of the Twitter platform.

Apps help people understand and make the most of Twitter, whether they’re on the web, on mobile, and even watching television.  A few examples:

• Mass Relevance combed through more than 160,000 Tweets to bring the White House’s first Twitter Town Hall to life though real-time content curation and visualization.
• Trendrr evaluated the sentiment of Tweets about sci-fi thriller SUPER8 to measure the film’s blockbuster $38 million opening weekend.
• Datasift just announced $6M in new funding today for the work they do to make the Twitter firehose accessible to any developer.
• Poptweets created an addictive iPhone trivia game that challenges players to match Tweets with the famous people who said them.
• Radian6 turned its brand monitoring tools into a thriving business and was recently acquired by Salesforce for $326 million.

The entire Twitter team is committed to investing in the ecosystem by listening to developers and enabling them with the right tools and information. Today we’re introducing a new Twitter Developer site, where anyone in the ecosystem can start building with Twitter, connect directly with Twitter team members, exchange ideas with fellow developers, and find all the resources they need to create their own product or business.