Is Twitter Really going to Lockout New Client Applications?
You have probably read that a few days ago Ryan Sarver of the Platform team at Twitter announced that changes were planned for the usage of the Twitter API. There has been a lot of FUD, and worry about Twitter cutting out competition and new apps from its service. I don’t exactly think this is true.
If you are an existing developer of client apps, you can continue to serve
your user base, but we will be holding you to high standards to ensure you
do not violate users’ privacy, that you provide consistency in the user
experience, and that you rigorously adhere to all areas of our Terms of
Service. We have spoken with the major client applications in the Twitter
ecosystem about these needs on an ongoing basis, and will continue to ensure a high bar is maintained
Ryan Sarver on Twitter API Changes
This has kicked up a lot of FUD on the net as to whether or not Twitter are planning to lock out client applications that are not already part of the ecosystem. This is partly due to the fact that Ryan Sarver stated that these changes were to enforce consistent UX, to uphold their ToS and protect users privacy. We can debate whether or not the official story is true, but enforcing those things should have been their responsibility in the first place. Why the big (somewhat vague) announcement?
It’s no secret that Twitter has been a massive financial risk. 4 years of investment with little revenue is going to force them into finding a way to monetize their service to keep them afloat. For those application developers who cannot comply with the current API Terms of Service, who’s going to say they will comply with a ToS amended to enforce promoted tweets or other such advertisement to display in their clients as instructed? (Answer: They likely won’t).
There is some word on the internet that Twitter are going to cut out the competition from their API service. I don’t really think that is what they are trying to achieve here. I think they are stating their justification now on why they have cut out “Twitter App X” from the API service; due to their non-compliance of ToS. They are paving a way for a new ToS of which they will enforce whatever monetization technique they are opting for; they are cutting down the application ecosystem to only those developers who are willing to comply.
I think what is happening here is that Twitter want to ensure a dickbar of some iteration in each client. If this absolutely is the case (which to be fair, nobody aside from Twitter officials and clairvoyants know), then please:
- Target your Advertising
At present, Twitter for iPhone keeps flicking #SisterWives at my face. I am not American, I do not live in America and I do not use Twitter to follow Reality TV shows (American or otherwise). Keep within my interests, keep within the fields of work of the people I am following.
- Offer a way for Users to Opt-out
Guaranteed there are going to be a few people who will hate such an implementation. Offer them an official way to opt-out, and charge a small fee for it. Save from people leaving the service, people will find a way to opt-themselves out somehow (for instance). There will still be people willing to pay for such a feature if there was a legit option.
- Do not screw over existing customers
Basically, do not kill an API token for a paid-for app over some trivial reason such as a minor UX problem. There are several good paid-for apps in the iPhone App Store. If you were to kill any of them you would create not only problems for the users, but also for the developers. Apple still keep hold of their 30% even after a refund. Don’t make a poor dev pay n * (100% price of app) because their button doesn’t explicitly say “Retweet”.
I don’t think Twitter are going to cut out new applications for requesting an API token at all. Whilst they could have been a lot more clear in their announcement, they didn’t specifically say they are going to close all new API tokens. They said they were going to clamp down on enforcing their API ToS. We are going to see a big change in the API in the new future. I read this announcement as “Current Developers: We are going to be watching you closely, buckle down and ensure you are following our API guidelines. New Developers: Watch this space.”
Based on what has been officially said so far, nobody is fully sure what is going to happen. A lot of developers have interpreted that there will be no allowances for any new applications. Twitter should have been a lot more clear of their future intentions with that announcement.