Twitter has finally shut down its free API and is breaking many apps and websites. The company had previously said it would cut off access in early February, but later moved without providing an updated timeline.
But, after announcing its new paid API levels, the company seems to have started weeding out the thousands of developers who rely on its free development tools. In the past few days, several app makers and other services have reported that the Twitter API is no longer working. mashable The shutdown appears to have started Tuesday morning, though many developers are still trying to figure out what’s going on, as Twitter doesn’t appear to have contacted most developers about the changes.
The end of the free Twitter API comes after the company abruptly changed its rules for third-party Twitter clients as part of a broader shakeup of its development strategy. But, as we’ve said before, third-party customers were only a small fraction of developers, researchers, bot builders, and others who relied on Twitter APIs.
For example, apps and websites that used the Twitter API to enable content sharing to and from Twitter now see that functionality discontinued. WordPress reported on Tuesday that it could no longer access the API, resulting in its websites not being able to automatically share posts on Twitter. (The problem since according to the company.)
Our access to the Twitter API is currently blocked. As a result, Jetpack Social is temporarily unable to automatically share your posts directly from https://t.co/eRvNKWaolr to Twitter. We’ve reached out to Twitter for more information on how to unlock.
— WordPress.com (@wordpressdotcom) April 4, 2023
Also, Echobox, a service that allows publishers to share content on Twitter, said it was also disconnected from the Twitter API “without notice”. The company said it found a fix, but hadn’t heard from Twitter. The news-reading app Flipboard, which recently began to change its approach, has also warned that anyone using Flipboard to view Twitter feeds would soon see the feature disabled.
Twitter, once a public square for ideas, is shutting down its API and closing its doors to other platforms, including Flipboard. Your Twitter feeds on Flipboard will be broken. You can search for replacement theme fonts using the Flipboard search. 1/2
— Flipboard Support (@FlipboardCS) April 4, 2023
Many of the Twitter bot developers are also affected. The maker of “Cheap Bots Made Quick,” which allows people to create bots for Twitter, reported receiving a tip that they were from the API. Twitter has said its new “basic” tier is meant to provide a path to allow bots to continue, but many developers have said the monthly limit of 1,500 tweets is too limited.
The Substack newsletter platform is also wearing though it’s unclear if this is related to the API shutdown or if the company recently announced a possible . (It seems that the embeds work normally on other websites, including this one.)
All of these issues are further complicated by the fact that Twitter seems to have communicated very little with any of its developers about these changes or what they mean. Most of the employees working in developer relations were laid off during the company’s mass layoffs. And the company’s developer forums. with posts from confused developers looking for answers. The company no longer has a communications team and its press email automatically responds with a poop emoji.
As mashable the shutdown has even affected developers who are willing to pay for the Twitter API, although the price for the top-tier enterprise tiers is still unclear. “When Twitter announced these new tiers last week, we immediately looked to sign up for the Enterprise tier,” Echobox wrote in a post. On Wednesday. “We have yet to hear back from Twitter’s enterprise sales team and our API access was cut off without notice yesterday.”
News app Tweet Shelf said its API access also despite requesting access to the business API. so he did a service to automatically delete tweets, and an analysis tool.
But it’s not yet clear how many developers will be able to continue using the Twitter API in some form. The free tier and the $100/mo “basic” tier are compared to what was previously offered for free. And while Twitter hasn’t revealed exactly how much the “enterprise” tier will cost, many expect it to be prohibitively expensive: rumors have spread. it could cost $40,000 a month or more.
I’m sad to announce that as of today, Social Bearing is no longer operational due to our access to the free Twitter API being revoked.
The new free and basic API plans are too limited, and at ~$40,000/mo the enterprise tier is too expensive to keep running. pic.twitter.com/wpGTTC8Lkp
—Social Bearing (@socialbearing) April 4, 2023
Some developers aren’t even waiting for pricing details. The developer of Social Bearing, an analytics service used by researchers, said there was no way the service was going to keep working. “I wish the best of luck to those who stayed on Twitter and to fellow developers,” they said.