Tweetie was a client for the

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. There was a mobile version that ran on

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a po ...

, and

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

, and a desktop version ran on

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Leopard, Snow Leopard and Lion (respectively 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7). Both the

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Mac versions of Tweetie were acquired by Twitter on April 9, 2010, and were re-released as the official Twitter clients for iOS and Mac.

History

Tweetie 2.0 for iPhone was the first app to introduce the pull-to-refresh user interface mechanism. The Mac OS X version of Twitter had many of the same features as its mobile sibling. In addition to a free advertising supported version, the paid iOS and OS X versions cost $2.99 and $19.95 respectively. The beta of the Mac version was leaked to the popular torrent site

Demonoid Demonoid is a BitTorrent tracker and website founded in 2003 to facilitate file sharing, file-sharing–related discussion and provide a searchable index of torrent files. The site underwent intermittent periods of extended downtime in its his ...

a week before the official release.

Acquisition by Twitter

On April 9, 2010, Twitter announced that the company had acquired Tweetie. Twitter stated that the acquisition stemmed from the lack of an official, Twitter-branded

mobile application A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

. Tweetie was

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

as "Twitter for iPhone" and released on May 17, 2010. The company's founder,

Loren Brichter Loren Brichter (born November 15, 1984) is an American software developer who is best known for creating Tweetie and the pull-to-refresh interaction. After atebits, his self-founded company, was bought by Twitter, Inc. in 2010, he developed a wo ...

, became part of Twitter's mobile division and helped launch the "Twitter for iPad" application. On January 6, 2011, Twitter announced that the company had also acquired the desktop version of Tweetie, changing the name to "Twitter for Mac". "Twitter for Mac" was launched on the new

Mac App Store The Mac App Store (also known as the App Store) is a digital distribution platform for macOS apps, often referred to as Mac apps, created and maintained by Apple. The platform was announced on October 20, 2010, at Apple's "Back to the Mac" eve ...

the same day. On Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Twitter announced that certain patents related to Tweetie would never be used except to defend Twitter. Ultimately "Twitter for Mac" was discontinued after a very slow maintenance schedule in March 2018, being eventually replaced by the iOS version compiled using

Catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

in October 2019. The Catalyst app has been silently discontinued since the

acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk Businessman and U.S. political figure Elon Musk initiated an Mergers and acquisitions, acquisition of the American social media company Twitter, Inc. on April 14, 2022, and concluded it on October 27, 2022. Musk had begun buying shares of the ...

, and was replaced by the iPad app on M1 Macs

References

External links

Official website
archived on November 21, 2020 {{Twitter Navigation 2008 software Microblogging software IOS software Twitter services and applications Twitter, Inc. acquisitions