Twitter’s new developer terms ban third-party clients

A week after shutting out major app developers, the firm quietly revised its conditions.

If there was any doubt about Twitter’s intentions in blocking third-party app developers, the firm has discreetly amended its developer agreement to make it plain that app developers are no longer authorized to create their own clients.

Twitter’s developer agreement’s “restrictions” section was revised Thursday with a language prohibiting “using or accessing the Licensed Materials to establish or attempt to create a replacement or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications.” The inclusion is the only significant alteration to the 5,000-word contract.

The shift verifies what many popular Twitter clients have been suspecting in recent days: third-party Twitter services are no longer authorised under Elon Musk’s leadership.

That tactic appears to have been abandoned, since developers whose apps have been disconnected have gotten no contact from Twitter regarding the policy changes.