Tweetro hits token limit and shows what’s wrong with Twitter’s new policies

We mentioned Tweetro recently when we interviewed developer house LazyWorm Apps who are also behind the Windows Phone app MetroTube. The Twitter client is meant for Windows 8 and runs quite well on RT devices like the Surface. Unfortunately, it has also stopped working.

That’s not the fault of the developers though but rather due to in part to two reasons (1) it’s very popular (as is the OS) and (2) Twitter has a 100K token cap.  Long story short, Twitter implemented new changes to how their API is used for third-party apps and it's causing problems--if an app goes over that "token limit", they get shut down and stop working.

Confusion has reigned for details and even when they are suppose to go into effect but what you need to know as a consumer is simply that devs are getting the short end of the stick. Twitter has basically declared war on third party devs, which is why you’re seeing them exit the market—they can no longer customize functions and “hack” on features, nor can they get too popular. Differentiation is dead.

This would almost be excusable if Twitter even had an official Windows 8 application. They do not and instead are just “starting work” on it. Meanwhile, struggling developers cannot even get their apps out or if they are a hit, risk having it completely crippled.

Tweetro may eventually go “premium” and charging for the app, forcibly limiting sales for the company (much like Tweetbot on OSX, which fetches for $20). The developers of Tweetro have reached out to Twitter directly for an explanation and to try and resolve this issue for their users. In the meantime they recommend that users

“…refrain from uninstalling the app, removing accounts from within the app or revoking access from Twitter as there is no method accessing OAuth in its current state.”

Hopefully some good will come of this. In the meantime, hold tight. This isn't the first time Twitter has broken their system and it won't be the last.