Twitter announced its v2 API for developers last July under an ‘Early Access’ label. Now, the company is enabling wider access so more folks can take advantage of it.
So now if you’re using the Twitter API, you’ll be automatically accessing the new version and taking advantage of its features.
With this launch, the social media company is focusing on two primary areas: easy signups and access to more tweets per month.
If you’re starting out using Twitter’s API, you’ll get Essential level access. With that, you can have one app environment, and access to 500,000 tweets per month. The company has made the signup process easier to get started quickly with your development.
Developers who were already using Twitter’s v1.1 API will be automatically upgraded to an Elevated level. This will allow you to have three app environments and access to 2 million tweets per month. If you don’t have this access by default, you can apply for it here.
Twitter said that it’ll soon introduce a process for devs whose applications were rejected in the past to reapply.
The firm has introduced some nifty features with today’s launch. Here’s a quick list of them:
- The company has removed language requirements in its API along with limitations on the number of users an app can serve.
- It has also removed restrictions on replicating Twitter’s core experience on other apps.
- Twitter is adding new endpoints to Spaces, so creators can check out a list of folks who have purchased tickets for a paid session.
- There are also new endpoints available for Twitter Lists so developers can organize tweets based on topics or interests.
These will be beneficial for third-party clients such as Tweetbot, Ubersocial, and Fenix, who built some of their own unique features on top of the Twitter experience.
Twitter highlighted some of the new API’s use cases such as research on Indian diaspora and farmer’s protests in India that took place earlier this year and the Block Party application, which lets you filter unwanted mentions.
During the launch last year, the company said with this new API, it wants to enable apps that encourage healthier conversations, useful bots, and provide tools to academic researchers.
After years of the allegation of alienating developers, Twitter seems to be opening up to the community. Recently, the company brought back support for Instagram previews on the platform — almost eight years after discontinuing support.
In a conversation with The Verge, Amir Shevat, developer platform lead at the company, said this change is one of the first steps in its long-term plan of becoming a decentralized platform with app experiences built on top of it. Thankfully, there’s no mention of a metaverse just yet.
You can read all documentation about API v2 here.