Twitter’s Jack Dorsey posted a message on the Twitter developers forum today, asking developers for ‘candid feedback’ about creating products using Twitter’s API’s and tools. Twitter has had a mixed relationship with developers lately, as many felt that their products were threatened by Twitter’s statements that they should steer away from building clients and were further taken aback when Twitter made steps to block third-party ads from streams.
Dorsey says that developers are a fundamental part of Twitter’s DNA and thanks them, ensuring them that Twitter will give them the ‘structure, tools, resources and support’ that they need to build their businesses around Twitter. In order to do a better job of that, Dorsey has initiated a thread in the Discussions group that will allow developers to share ideas with him and the Twitter team.
In the post, Dorsey says that Twitter wants to continue to bring developers new opportunities and enthusiastically points out the upcoming integration with Apple’s iOS 5 software as one way to take the Twitter ecosystem to ‘a new level’.
Very soon, anywhere there’s an iPhone or an iPad, you’ll always find Twitter. If you’re an iOS developer, you can add Twitter to your application to personalize the experience for your users, giving them easier and better ways to login, enrich their experience, share thoughts and content and help boost your distribution.
Dorsey concludes by saying that Twitter’s relationships with its customers and with developers are a ‘primary measure’ of its success.
Scoring a deep integration into Apple’s iOS 5 OS was a huge get for Twitter, so Dorsey isn’t wrong in his enthusiasm. While Facebook is present on pretty much every platform that Twitter is, it’s really the tight integration with iOS that will help Twitter make headway against its larger cousin in the social space. Google’s new Google+ service currently has its own app on Android and iOS, but you can be sure that future versions of Android will have Google+ features built right in. If the partnership with Apple is an ongoing one, Facebook will be left as the odd man out when it comes to a tightly integrated social experience.
The timing of this note is interesting, as, with iOS 5 coming out shortly, Twitter will need the support of third-party developers to ensure that they take advantage of the integration. If Twitter can prove its success as a single-signon service, with Apple’s current and future app developers leading the charge, it could fuel its future with Apple and continue to cement its own immortality clause.
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