Twitter is preparing to shut down its long-overlooked social media dashboard app TweetDeck for Mac on July 1.
The company notified Mac users of the impending shutdown via a banner that appears at the top of the screen when it is launched.
The message also suggests that users can continue to use TweetDeck across the web from now on.
The company also confirmed the closure via the TweetDeck account within the platform. She noted that the updated version of TweetDeck across the web offers more invitations to users who want to try out the new web version over the next few months.
Twitter acquired the app in 2011 for $40 million. And the company hasn’t developed TweetDeck to its full potential.
It bought the service at a time when rival UberMedia was capturing social media market share by buying apps like Echofon, UberTwitter and Mixx.
Twitter saw this as a competitive threat, leading it to buy TweetDeck to keep it out of UberMedia’s hands. But her lack of interest in the product was evident.
And years passed without much development. The app has a small, but somewhat enthusiastic user base who said they would be willing to pay for a premium version of the app.
And for a company that struggles to make revenue outside of advertising, it’s odd that it isn’t taking advantage of its most willing users.
Instead, it shut down the TweetDeck mobile app in 2013, and then discontinued support for Windows in 2016.
And it looks like it’s time for a Mac app, especially after the company decided to shut down Twitter for Mac in 2018, which later returned as a Mac Catalyst-only app.
A Twitter spokesperson noted that the company’s current focus is on making the web version of TweetDeck better and testing the new preview.
The preview version of TweetDeck is currently being tested with a limited 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 aims to bring more features. Including the full Tweet composer, advanced search features, new column types, and Decks, a new way to group columns in workspaces.
Although the company is not ending support for TweetDeck completely, since it exists as a web app, many users prefer the regular app.
Based on the comments circulating about the closure, many are not satisfied with this decision. Many users are not fans of the web app, and also complain that it is very slow, has a poor user interface, lacks threads, space, and more.
There are plenty of TweetDeck alternatives. But users often access broader social media management platforms designed for professionals, such as Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social. They may also access third-party Twitter apps, such as Tweetbot or Echofon.
Some alternatives aim to compete with TweetDeck, other than Tweeten, whose design and functionality are based on TweetDeck.
Twitter has been inspired to develop many of its features over the years based on how people use its product. But when a core group of Twitter’s most active users demanded to pay for TweetDeck, it was ignored.
This points to some of the turmoil with Twitter product development decisions that the company has faced over the years. And while the company has had a history of producing some of its users’ ideas, others have been routinely ignored.
In recent months, the company has developed a series of new products. Including Super Follows, Twitter Blue, Revue, In-App Gratuities, Spaces, and more.
But there has also been some criticism that these efforts, which focus on finding new ways to increase revenue, may distract the company from the more important work that needs to be done, such as tackling misinformation.
There are some hints that the company may start charging TweetDeck with a Blue subscription. But it’s unclear how many users might sign up, when all that’s left of TweetDeck is the web version.
