4 ms·

I was the creator of Twidroyd (First and biggest Android Twitter app w/ ~70% marketshare) and there was a larger story behind the first big anti-3rd party move.

by marban 4y ago

I was the creator of Twidroyd (First and biggest Android Twitter app w/ ~70% marketshare) and there was a larger story behind the first big anti-3rd party move. Basically we had some plans to bring users over to a new network after we got acquired by Idealab — and Twitter got wind of it. Think Mastodon 2010 style.

insomniacity 4y ago
Uhh, need more details! What happened?
lawgimenez 4y ago
Twidroyd was one of my frequently used clients back when I had a Nexus phone, along with Seesmic client.
- marban 4y ago
  Nexus was already a Mercedes phone. We started when there wasn't even a physical device on the market.
dmak 4y ago
Juicy story. I'm all ears.
Southworth 4y ago
This sounds fascinating, would love to hear more?
CSSer 4y ago
I wrote a paper on you and a couple of other third-party Twitter clients in undergrad on the importance of modern day brand preservation and protection for an integrated marketing class while this was playing out. In a roundabout way, you kind of helped me get an A in that class! :D
- marban 4y ago
  Lol, speaking of brand protection, there's even a reason why the app had to be renamed to ...droyd from ...droid.
  - cshokie 4y ago
    The word “droid” is trademarked by Lucasfilm
    - rnk 4y ago
      That's not the "droid" you are looking for.
  - Doctor_Fegg 4y ago
    Naming your app as a portmanteau of two trademarked brand names is certainly brave!
marban 4y ago
E.g.: https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN341190544020111017 https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN341190544020111017 https://allthingsd.com/20111017/bill-gross-new-social-network-chime-in-will-pay-people-to-use-it/ https://allthingsd.com/20111017/bill-gross-new-social-networ...
tomhallett 4y ago
Has there been any interest in telling this story in any rich medium (podcast, long form article, 30 minute youtube video, documentary, netflix series). Not only does that sound super interesting, but now that most/all of Twitter Execs have moved on - I wonder if you'd be able to get Twitter's side of the story as well.
- marban 4y ago
  Twitter was a different shop back then — You could literally jump on a call with Ev et al (and even humans at Google when it came to Android) but while significant decisions were made at the time, it's nothing more than a melancholic blip in tech history. Strangely enough, I'm working on a new product in this space but it won't touch Twitter's API for sure :)
ryukafalz 4y ago
And Facebook 2007(?)-style: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interopera...

by marban 4y ago

insomniacity 4y ago

Uhh, need more details! What happened?

lawgimenez 4y ago

Twidroyd was one of my frequently used clients back when I had a Nexus phone, along with Seesmic client.

marban 4y ago
Nexus was already a Mercedes phone. We started when there wasn't even a physical device on the market.

dmak 4y ago

Juicy story. I'm all ears.

Southworth 4y ago

This sounds fascinating, would love to hear more?

CSSer 4y ago

I wrote a paper on you and a couple of other third-party Twitter clients in undergrad on the importance of modern day brand preservation and protection for an integrated marketing class while this was playing out. In a roundabout way, you kind of helped me get an A in that class! :D

marban 4y ago
Lol, speaking of brand protection, there's even a reason why the app had to be renamed to ...droyd from ...droid.
- cshokie 4y ago
  The word “droid” is trademarked by Lucasfilm
  - rnk 4y ago
    That's not the "droid" you are looking for.
- Doctor_Fegg 4y ago
  Naming your app as a portmanteau of two trademarked brand names is certainly brave!

marban 4y ago

E.g.: https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN341190544020111017 https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN341190544020111017 https://allthingsd.com/20111017/bill-gross-new-social-network-chime-in-will-pay-people-to-use-it/ https://allthingsd.com/20111017/bill-gross-new-social-networ...

tomhallett 4y ago

Has there been any interest in telling this story in any rich medium (podcast, long form article, 30 minute youtube video, documentary, netflix series). Not only does that sound super interesting, but now that most/all of Twitter Execs have moved on - I wonder if you'd be able to get Twitter's side of the story as well.

marban 4y ago
Twitter was a different shop back then — You could literally jump on a call with Ev et al (and even humans at Google when it came to Android) but while significant decisions were made at the time, it's nothing more than a melancholic blip in tech history. Strangely enough, I'm working on a new product in this space but it won't touch Twitter's API for sure :)

ryukafalz 4y ago

And Facebook 2007(?)-style: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interopera...