And they had access to a less limited API (request-wise) to make their app work better without constant rate limiting nags.

“Hmm… it is actually the people that have created value for the site by driving engagement that are the true idiots”

Musk famously does not care about contracts. Note that the only reason he ended up buying Twitter is that Deleware's corporate courts really don't fuck around and were likely going to force him to buy it pronto despite his attempts to wriggle out. But he'll happily screw over lesser people, as he's doing with various vendors, like Twitter's landlords: https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-landlord-sues-compan...

Explain to me how a small software vendor, even with the best contract in the world, is going to force Musk to turn back on their access in a timely enough fashion that they'll still have a business left? And be able to do it for a modest enough amount of money that the ISV will still be turning a profit?

The point was that when you build on top of someone else's platform, [1], then you are beholden to their whims. This is a substantial business risk, which has been happening since forever.

I sympethize with Tweetbot et al, but this day has been inevitable for some time. They are not the first to suffer this fate in tech, and they won't be the last.

[1] I'll add, without paying - ie not being an actual "customer".

I agree that building on other people's platforms is dangerous, but that's true regardless of the contract you have, because contracts only matter to the extent that you can afford to enforce them.

Yes, it sucks something you created is struggling due to things out of your control. However, you built your something with a foundation out of your control. I'm just struggling to be sympathetic with the business model.

(This is not a value judgement of Mastodon vs Twitter)

If this incident truly represents Twitter's change in approach to third-party clients, that change in policy is being executed in the most petty and malicious way it could be done.

This is not to excuse Twitter's actual behavior, which is clearly shitty. But: More petty and malicious would be to shut off access, then contact devs and promise that access would be restored if they just make these tiny changes to their app, and also sign this NDA forbidding discussion of the process. Then string along for a week or a month demanding just one more tiny change after change.

Then ghost.

Oh, you had a plan, but you couldn't really get it up in time, well, that's some learning pain. I'll cry a tear in some beer with you.

Tried to make a plan, realized there was no alternatives, but carried on anyways? That's very brave (ahem, read not smart) of you, but if you're a sole proprietor with no employees depending on you, then we can also share a beer of how to be smarter in the next venture. Got employees that are now hat in hand because of your "bravery"? Nope, again, no sympathy for you, but I'll be at the bar with your laid off employees burning you in effigy.

Pedantry is so much fun

Whether if it is Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, etc is no different to them locking down API access from third-party apps and can do so at any time, official or not.

The trouble isn't this necessarily; a lot of business models don't exist unless another company does. The App Store is a good example of this; if Apple just disappears then so many other businesses disappear with it.

The trouble is the fact that the relationship between these two parties is so one-sided. Unless these third party Twitter clients have some sort of contractual foundation to stand upon, then yeah, what they've enjoyed so far is basically akin to an ad-hoc, at-will support, that can be terminated at any time with no notice, for no reason.

Apple proactively gave everyone a refund who bought it.

https://marco.org/2015/09/21/peace-refund

Apple would probably do the same for third party Twitter clients if asked by the author.

Of course Marco could easily take the hit since that was shortly after he made a few million when Tumblr was sold to Yahoo.

And it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of hope for the future of 3rd-party Twitter apps anyway.