Twitter makes its latest API the default for all developers and their apps

iMore's Twitter in Tweetbot on iPhone 11 Pro (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

What you need to know

Twitter has confirmed that it has made its updated API the default for all developers and apps.
The original API will no longer receive feature updates but will receive bug fixes.

Twitter has confirmed that its updated API v2 is now the "primary Twitter API" for developers and the apps that they create. The API was originally made available in the middle of 2020 but has been operating as a beta, with API v1 hanging around. With the move to API v2, the original version will now no longer receive feature updates — but it will continue to receive bug fixes.

Twitter made the announcement on its developer website, saying that there are now two new levels of access — Essential and Elevated.

Essential access includes immediate access to the Twitter API v2 upon signup, one App environment and the ability to retrieve up to 500k Tweets per month. This should meet the majority of developers' needs, especially early on. We also know there's no better way to evaluate or test a platform than by sending your first request.We're also introducing a new free Elevated access level, which includes three App environments (development, staging, production) and the ability to retrieve up to two million Tweets per month. If you're already using the Twitter API v2, you'll automatically see your Projects upgraded to Elevated access today. Otherwise, you'll need to apply for Elevated access.

The Twitter API is vital for apps like Tweetbot and Twitterrific and while the official Twitter app continues to get features the API won't afford third-party developers, it's still not considered the best iPhone app for reading tweets by many.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.