Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has put out a call for comment to the platform’s developers. In a note posted on Twitter’s developer site he says; “I’d like to ask for your candid feedback. We want to know what additional materials you need from us to help you build products, boost distribution and expand your reach.”
Dorsey goes on to express enthusiasm for the future of Twitter, especially concerning the upcoming deep integration into iOS 5. “Very soon, anywhere there’s an iPhone or an iPad, you’ll always find Twitter.” Yet, Twitter’s relationship with its developer ecosystem has not always been rosy. Is this an olive branch from the service as it prepares to grow?
“If you’re an iOS developer, you can add Twitter to your application to personalize the experience for your users, giving them easier and better ways to login, enrich their experience, share thoughts and content and help boost your distribution,” Dorsey wrote. “I believe that our relationships with consumers and developers are a primary measure of our success. Thank you for helping millions of people around the world get more from Twitter.”
Not A Good Year For Twitter Developers
This has not been a good year if you are a developer working on a third-party Twitter client (unless you are TweetDeck and just got purchased by Twitter, of course). In March, Twitter more or less said, “Do not try and compete with us or our native clients.” TweetDeck was too big for Twitter to push over, so it bought it rather than let it fall into the hands of UberMedia.
Come June, at Apple’s World Wide Developers’ Conference, it was revealed that Twitter would be ingrained into nearly everything that happens in iOS 5. The deal was probably in the works for a couple of months. With iPhone 5 almost ready to be released, Dorsey and the Twitter team have probably come to realize that it needs to re-enlist its developer community that it had once shunned to help integrate the service into Apple devices. It is a monumental undertaking that Twitter alone is likely not capable of handling.
Hence, the call for help.
“If you’re an iOS developer, you can add Twitter to your application to personalize the experience for your users, giving them easier and better ways to login, enrich their experience, share thoughts and content and help boost your distribution,” Dorsey wrote. “I believe that our relationships with consumers and developers are a primary measure of our success. Thank you for helping millions of people around the world get more from Twitter.”
iOS 5 Release Around The Corner
Apple released iOS 5 beta 7 today, which is likely the last or the next-to-last beta version of the OS to come out before the iPhone 5 (and possibly another cheaper version) come out. A quick note from a developer who has been running the beta versions said, “very few changes, likely near the end of the beta” in regards to what is been updated or fixed with the latest release. So, Twitter has a couple weeks left, at most, before the new wave of iOS 5 applications come out. And here is Jack, waving a white flag and offering whatever support Twitter can muster.
“Our ongoing commitment is to give you the structure, tools, resources, and support you need to build your businesses as you leverage the power of Twitter,” Dorsey wrote.
That is a far cry from what came out of Twitter in March.
“”We ask all developers in the Twitter ecosystem to abide by a simple set of rules that are in the interests of our users, as well as the health and vitality of the platform as a whole,” said a Twitter spokesperson. “We often take actions to enforce these rules; in fact, on an average day we turn off more than one hundred services that violate our API rules of the road. This keeps the ecosystem fair for everyone.”
You can join the Twitter developer conversation in the services discussion group here.
So, developers, what do you want to see from Twitter? How can Dorsey and company woo you back into their good graces?
