Sad Times: Twitter to Stop Development of Beloved OS X Twitter Client

There isn’t one Twitter client that compiles all of the neat features spread across the world of Twitter clients into one package. The best Twitter client I’ve personally found happens to be the official Twitter client for OS X, available on the Mac App Store. Mainly, its smooth, clean, and lightweight interface, along with its highly customizable notification features and Global Tweet button, make this client my preferred method of tweeting. Unfortunately, it’s only available on OS X. Even more unfortunately, word on the digital street is that Twitter will cease development of this client. So, we can all still use it and clutch our Global Tweet button close to our chests, but if you were hoping for the ability to schedule a tweet in a future update, don’t hold your breath.

Though this Twitter client is, as far as I’m concerned, by far the best Twitter client, like I said, there isn’t one Twitter client with every feature a Twitter client should have. This client, for instance, not only can’t schedule pre-written tweets, but hasn’t been updated to play well with Mountain Lion’s global Notifications or the new MacBooks with Retina displays.  9to5Mac reports that Twitter actually has an updated client that is compatible with Retina displays already finished, but it has been shelved for an undisclosed reason.

This Twitter client was once known as “Tweetie,” until it became the more official “Twitter.” Twitter also owns the “power user” client TweetDeck, which some have avoided due to its bloated nature. If Twitter is ceasing development on the OS X client, one may wonder if they’ll cease development on TweetDeck, which seems to frequently update. One could speculate that Twitter doesn’t want to be responsible for more than one Twitter client, so they’re choosing TweetDeck over the OS X client, which only appears on one operating system. One could also speculate that Twitter would rather move people to their actual site rather than have their users sitting pretty in third party clients away from their main platform.

Whatever the reason, if the report is true, this is disappointing news. The OS X client is easily the cleanest Twitter client available, and the Global Tweet button and icon and badge notifications are, to me, worth more than TweetDeck’s ability to schedule tweets. Luckily, at least, if the report holds true, we’ll still be able to use the OS X client to our heart’s content, but when new features release for Twitter, they most likely won’t release for the client, and we’ll eventually be forced to get with the times and move on.

(via 9to5Mac)

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James Plafke