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Twitter Kills Its Mac App (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the no-real-commitment dept.

BrianFagioli writes: Twitter has announced that it is killing its Mac app. Without warning, the company pulled the app from the Mac App Store and issued the following tweet. "We're focusing our efforts on a great Twitter experience that's consistent across platforms. So, starting today the Twitter for Mac app will no longer be available for download, and in 30 days will no longer be supported.

13 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. New unified App by MikeDataLink · · Score: 2

    That's because they are working on a new unified app for Apple's new iOS on the Mac plan.... No need to continue to develop a dead end road.

    --
    Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
    1. Re:New unified App by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't you normally keep a version available and maintained until the new one is ready? How am I supposed to tweet from my Mac? A web browser?

    2. Re:New unified App by tepples · · Score: 2

      How am I supposed to tweet from my Mac? A web browser?

      Yes. What problems have you run into when accessing https://twitter.com/ from your web browser?

      (And if any, were they related to Safari's habit of lagging behind Firefox and Chrome in supporting new features of CSS, JavaScript, and DOM?)

    3. Re:New unified App by cstacy · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you like the app you have, you can keep it.

      Twitter is repealing and replacing their current app, and won't get rid of the existing one until the new one is available. It will be essentially simultaneous. And it will be MUCH better than the current app. MUCH. Also, Facebook will pay for it!

    4. Re:New unified App by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

      It is a joke. I didn't even know there was a Twitter app. Who needs an app to a website?

    5. Re:New unified App by _xeno_ · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The best part of the Twitter app on Mac was that it's so out of date, they never bothered implementing ads - I'm sorry, "promoted tweets" - on it. That would be one reason to use it: built-in ad blocking.

      But other than that - yeah, I don't see a point to a Twitter app. If you want an "app-like experience" just grab a Twitter tab and throw it into its own little window. Boom. Twitter app.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  2. Free Love. by geekmux · · Score: 2

    "But wait, I use that."

    "Hey, you can't do that!"

    "What the hell?! Why?!?"

    Ah, can't you just feel the Free Love? Ain't zero-cost apps awesome?

    BRB, gonna go log into Netflix now...see if they removed my favorite movies and shows again...gotta keep this buzz going.

  3. Re:What's the deal? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

    Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!

    Tweets are for twits.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  4. API key revocation by tepples · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you like the app you have, you can keep it.

    That doesn't work once Twitter revokes the API key used by said app.

  5. Anti-script hardliners; outdated browsers by tepples · · Score: 2

    Who needs an app to a website?

    Mostly three people:

    • Anti-script hardliners who don't want web pages to be interactive at all beyond link navigation and form submission because they believe a web browser ought to be a viewer for static documents, not an application platform. They prefer native applications that they can vet before installation.
    • Free software purists who refuse to run proprietary script, as described in the article "The JavaScript Trap" by Richard M. Stallman. They prefer to use or write a free native application that talks to the same web service that the site's proprietary script talks to.
    • People stuck on a browser with incomplete support for recent web standards, such as users of Safari for iOS or Edge for Windows 10 S.
  6. Re:The Mac is dead. by HiThere · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Gee...I'll have to think about switching to using a Mac. All the Twitter folks are going away.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  7. Biggest problem: Account switching by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Yes. What problems have you run into when accessing https://twitter.com/ from your web browser?

    All of the Twitter clients I have used have pretty good support for multiple Twitter logins. The website has zero such support (unless I've missed something? Would be happy to be proven wrong here).

    Like many people I know, I have a professional and a personal Twitter account. I'd prefer to be able to see both feeds interleaved, and to be able to easily post to either account. On the web site you have to log out and log back in, which really sucks compared to clients.

    The Mac does have other standalone clients though, so it's not like Mac users are losing anything. If anything they are better off being forced to migrate to vastly better third party apps (the official Mac Twitter app is absolutely terrible).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  8. Multi-Account Containers in Firefox by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    All of the Twitter clients I have used have pretty good support for multiple Twitter logins. The website has zero such support (unless I've missed something? Would be happy to be proven wrong here).

    If you use Multi-Account Containers, a feature of Mozilla Firefox, any website supports multiple logins. Create a container for accounts related to your brand and another for personal use, and Firefox will track your Twitter cookies separately for tabs belonging to each container. It's not interleaving, but it does let you switch between the two more easily.

    Does Safari support anything similar?