Because of "technical and business constraints," Twitter is cutting off developers' access to old API features, on which many third-parties rely.
"We’re removing support for some outdated developer tools," said Rob Johnson, senior director, data enterprise solutions at Twitter, in a new blog post. "We feel the best Twitter experience we can provide today is through our owned and operated Twitter for iOS and Android apps, as well as desktop and mobile twitter.com."
Here, Twitter deprecated three of its legacy developer APIs, which include the Site Streams, User Streams, and its REST Direct Message Endpoints.
The move has been predicted because it is part of a broader realignment of Twitter’s resources and offerings.
After all, those legacy developer tools were only being used by about one percent of third-party developers, as most developers have migrated to the newer APIs.
To replace those older APIs, developers can use newer Endpoints.
The Site Streams and User Streams APIs, for example. They have been been replaced with just one Endpoint, which is the Account Activity API. Before doing this, Twitter has made some efforts in assisting developers impacted by the changes, like building a migration guide assist in their transition to the newer API.
However, Twitter warned that some third-party applications won’t work as they used to.
"Instead of Tweets automatically streaming in like they once did in some third-party apps, you might need to pull to refresh like you do in Twitter-owned apps and sites," explained Rob Johnson. "Several of the most popular apps have already made updates so that you can continue using them with minimal disruption."
On the other hand, the REST Direct Message Endpoint has been replaced with two more capable endpoints, called the DM POST and DM GET Endpoints, which support webhooks and 'quick replies'. Here, Twitter is keen that the Endpoints should give developers more control and functionality.
And with Twitter killing those legacy APIs, it has also cut support for the service on Apple Watch, Mac, and Windows App. Twitter has also replaced its previous Twitter for Windows app with its own Progressive Web App.
Twitter could embrace third-party developers fully, allowing them to develop things and help Twitter grow. Twitter knows that some best ideas come from users, but as a struggling platform, giving in to users demands would introduce new costs and complexity into the company.
Moving forward, Johnson promised the company is still "strongly committed to ongoing investment in our developer ecosystem."
The company also reaffirmed its commitment to the developer community, and said it plans to continue investing in TweetDeck, its own professionally-focused Twitter client.