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| Twitter is shutting down TweetDeck on July 1 |
Twitter is preparing to shut down its long-deprecated social media dashboard app TweetDeck for Mac on July 1.
The company notifies Mac users of an impending shutdown via a banner that appears at the top of the screen at startup.
The post also suggested that users can continue to use TweetDeck on the web from now on.
The company also confirmed the shutdown via a TweetDeck account within the platform. She noted that the updated web version of TweetDeck offers more invitations to users who want to try out the new web version in the coming months.
Twitter acquired the app for $40 million in 2011. The company has yet to realize the full potential of TweetDeck.
It bought the service at a time when UberMedia was gaining market share in social media by buying apps like Echofon, UberTwitter and Mixx.
Twitter saw this as a competitive threat and prompted the company to acquire TweetDeck so that it would not be controlled by UberMedia. But his lack of interest in the product is obvious.
Several years passed without much development. The app's small and enthusiastic user base has expressed their willingness to pay for the premium version of the app.
For a company that struggles to make revenue outside of advertising, it's strange that it doesn't take advantage of its most desirable users.
Instead, the TweetDeck mobile app shut down in 2013 and support for Windows ended in 2016.
It seems like it's time for a Mac app, especially after the company decided to shut down Twitter for Mac in 2018, which later came back as a Mac Catalyst app.
A Twitter spokesperson noted that the company is currently focused on improving the web version of TweetDeck and testing new preview builds.
A preview version of TweetDeck is currently being tested with a small number of people in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
Twitter wants to push users to its web app
The preview version of TweetDeck should bring more functionality. Includes a full tweet editor, improved search capabilities, new column types and decks, and a new way to group columns in the workspace.
Although the company has not completely dropped TweetDeck support, many users prefer the default app because it exists as a web app.
And according to comments about the shutdown, many were unhappy with the decision. Many users are not fans of the web app and complain about its slowness, bad user interface, lack of threads, disk space, etc.
There are many alternatives to TweetDeck. But users often turn to broader social media management platforms designed for professionals, such as Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social. You can also access third-party Twitter apps like Tweetbot or Echofon.
Some alternatives aim to compete with TweetDeck, with the exception of Tweet, which is based on TweetDeck for design and functionality.
Over the years, Twitter has been inspired to build many of its features based on how people use its products. But when Twitter's most active core user base asked to pay for TweetDeck, they were ignored.
This is indicative of some of the turmoil in Twitter product development decisions the company has faced over the years. Although the company has generated ideas from users in the past, others are often overlooked.
In recent months, the company has developed a number of new products. Includes Super Follows, Twitter Blue, Revue, In-App Tips, Spaces, and more.
However, it has also been criticized that these efforts, which focus on finding new ways to increase sales, can distract the company from more important tasks that need to be done, such as: b- Dealing with misinformation.
There are some indications that the company may start charging TweetDeck for Blue subscriptions. But it's unclear how many users can sign up, and all that's left of TweetDeck is the web version.