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I went back into history, to find my blog post about how to tweet from Python (http://corbinsimpson.com/entry/the-bird-is-the-word http://corbinsimpson.com/entr

I went back into history, to find my blog post about how to tweet from Python (http://corbinsimpson.com/entry/the-bird-is-the-word http://corbinsimpson.com/entry/the-bird-is-the-word) and confirmed that Twitter started rolling out OAuth in July 2010. That means that they have given xAuth apps the better part of a year to transition, when the original plan was to give them only a month or so. My sympathy is limited towards Twitter app developers -- you were warned a while ago, you've had plenty of time to figure out the new system, and it's really not that painful.

zbowling 15y ago
I think you are confused. Twitter had basic auth and they gave us transition period. xAuth is OAuth but doesn't require a web based interaction to authorize. With xAuth, apps ask for a username and pass but get a token and only store the token (instead of storing the username and pass like with basic auth). This was created to help with UX of non-webapps like mobile and desktop. The first release of xAuth was Seesmic Look which was after basic auth was in the count to shutdown. xAuth is only given to apps that are approved by Twitter that prove that they are not a web service and need the improved UX. The issue is that these apps are usually clients that desktop and mobile and probably need DM access, but xAuth clients can't ask for DM access (they are only allowing that access to clients that web auth).
olivercameron 15y ago
Twitter has actively advocated using xAuth in mobile apps and has never said, until yesterday, that they prefer developers using OAuth. Twitter themselves set the precedent with all of their official apps using xAuth.
ceejayoz 15y ago
oAuth replaced Basic Authentication, not xAuth. xAuth was specifically built to make the oAuth experience nicer for native apps. xAuth is now having functionality removed with very little warning.
jad 15y ago
The order of operations was: * Twitter supported basic auth only. * Twitter forced all new apps, including native apps, to use OAuth. Existing basic auth apps were allowed to continue working without modification. * Twitter rolled out xAuth specifically to allow native app developers to provide non-shitty user experiences. * Twitter finally forced all apps off of basic auth. I don't think there's a single native app that chose the web-based OAuth workflow over xAuth. They were at one point in a position to move forward with only the OAuth web flow, but they chose to roll out xAuth after they were requiring all new apps to use the OAuth web flow. Now they're taking away privileges from xAuth apps without providing a solution to the problem xAuth was created to solve in the first place. And they're giving developers 2 weeks to figure out what to do and do it. It's not surprising that developers are upset.

zbowling 15y ago

I think you are confused. Twitter had basic auth and they gave us transition period. xAuth is OAuth but doesn't require a web based interaction to authorize. With xAuth, apps ask for a username and pass but get a token and only store the token (instead of storing the username and pass like with basic auth). This was created to help with UX of non-webapps like mobile and desktop. The first release of xAuth was Seesmic Look which was after basic auth was in the count to shutdown. xAuth is only given to apps that are approved by Twitter that prove that they are not a web service and need the improved UX. The issue is that these apps are usually clients that desktop and mobile and probably need DM access, but xAuth clients can't ask for DM access (they are only allowing that access to clients that web auth).

olivercameron 15y ago

Twitter has actively advocated using xAuth in mobile apps and has never said, until yesterday, that they prefer developers using OAuth. Twitter themselves set the precedent with all of their official apps using xAuth.

ceejayoz 15y ago

oAuth replaced Basic Authentication, not xAuth. xAuth was specifically built to make the oAuth experience nicer for native apps. xAuth is now having functionality removed with very little warning.

jad 15y ago

The order of operations was: * Twitter supported basic auth only. * Twitter forced all new apps, including native apps, to use OAuth. Existing basic auth apps were allowed to continue working without modification. * Twitter rolled out xAuth specifically to allow native app developers to provide non-shitty user experiences. * Twitter finally forced all apps off of basic auth. I don't think there's a single native app that chose the web-based OAuth workflow over xAuth. They were at one point in a position to move forward with only the OAuth web flow, but they chose to roll out xAuth after they were requiring all new apps to use the OAuth web flow. Now they're taking away privileges from xAuth apps without providing a solution to the problem xAuth was created to solve in the first place. And they're giving developers 2 weeks to figure out what to do and do it. It's not surprising that developers are upset.