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Everyone Knows Twitter Is a Big Party, So What Are Twitter “Third Parties?”

January 12, 2015 by Alex Yong

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No matter what smartphone or tablet you own, chances are, you will find a large selection of Twitter applications (a.k.a. “apps”). These are fairly easy to find when you Google the brand of your phone or tablet + Twitter, in your query.

If that search does not provide enough search results, add app. If you have an iOS/Mac OS device, add App Store. If you have an Android device, add GooglePlay . You can also try searching on WebToolsWiki.com for information about apps and how to use them.

Is the Twitter App Enough?

“But I already have Twitter on my smartphone and Twitter.com …Why would I even want to do this?”

Although Twitter’s native desktop and mobile app give us complete control of our Twitter accounts, you may find that their layouts may not be exactly to your liking. For example, sometimes it is inconvenient to have a big browser window open on your laptop, or to refresh to see what’s new. Maybe you don’t like Twitter’s default black text on white background. Possibly there is something else that is not your favorite component.

That is where third-party applications (a.k.a. “third parties”) come into play. Twitter’s developers included a flexible application programming interface (API). This interface is the communication bridge between Twitter and the third parties. It is what the applications use to exchange information with Twitter.

Many Options Available

Thanks to intrepid app developers and Twitter’s API, we have many free or low-cost options which allow us to read and send tweets on mobile devices or desktop clients. The desktop clients are those non-browser-based interfaces and applications.

Some apps are feature rich, but the biggest draw is that their interfaces are customizable, to some degree. That is the sweet spot where people decide a certain app is more to their liking and become fans of that app.

Third-party desktop clients for Twitter are usually OS-specific, such as Twitter Windows clients, or for Mac OS only, though some are cross-platform. The mobile ones are always OS-specific such as Android Twitter. Warning: GooglePlay apps have little labels to let you know whether a mobile app is best suited for a phone or tablet by indicating “For tablets” or “For phones”. These labels aren’t very large, so look carefully. The Mac iOS also has a breakdown between iPhone and iPad.

Third-Party Tools

Third-party tools are software of a different stripe, but they have some similarities to the third-party clients, which is what we’ve been discussing so far. Tools are normally convenient desktop web apps, where no download is necessary. Tools tend to focus on a bundle of specific purposes, rather than acting as a client. For example, there are chat tools out there to enhance the experience of Twitter chats. Personally, when it comes to Twitter chats, I don’t need any outside chat tool because I’m really fast with standard Twitter. Mobile tools are far less common, but you can always try using a web tool on a mobile browser if you feel you absolutely need to, but just know it can potentially be a wonky and frustrating experience.

Twitter smartphone apps do act as a kind of Twitter client, but they’re mobile, which is supposedly going to be the new rage in how we use social media. Unlike tools, they don’t really aim to do “specialty” things.

Hopefully you have a better understanding of the two buckets — Clients and tools.

In the past, the iPhone’s normal Twitter was once a third-party named Tweetie. In 2010, through a corporate acquisition, Twitter rebranded Tweetie as “Twitter for iPhone.” Tweetie also had a desktop client, which Twitter also acquired less than a year later. That version was renamed “Twitter for Mac” and appeared in the new Mac App Store the same day.

When apps and clients ask for your username, password, consent, etc., it’s all normal and required. Without authorization from you, nothing will work. You can control most things as you would with normal Twitter. Using mobile touch menus, you will see buttons to read tweets, @replies, @mentions, add-to-lists, and in many cases, without a browser opening, the option to rapidly open webpages within the app or client itself.

So, rock on with third parties; they are really all about preference and you are still partying inside the giant party known as Twitter.

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Alex Yong

Alex Yong

To find out about Alex Yong, visit his SocialWebCafe author profile.
Alex Yong
Alex Yong

Latest posts by Alex Yong (see all)

  • One Hashtag Blunder Can Put You In A Bad Digital Neighborhood - January 29, 2015
  • Everyone Knows Twitter Is a Big Party, So What Are Twitter “Third Parties?” - January 12, 2015
Alex Yong

Alex Yong

Alex Yong

Alex Yong

Filed Under: Social Media, Twitter

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75 comments… add one
  1. Gail Gardner

    January 12, 2015, 1:54 pm

    This helps clear the muddy water a little; still confusing though. After I updated Ubuntu it updated FireFox and now site after site asks me if I want to “install” it. I don’t use mobile, so we’re talking about on my desktop. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and many other sites now want to install apps. I have no idea why or if they are safe to ignore or install. So annoying.

    Reply
  2. Alex Yong

    January 13, 2015, 1:56 am

    Another good thing about using a 3rd party mobile app is that you can use it with the native app, so it’s the mobile equivalent of 2 desktop browser windows being open. ~Waves hi to Gail~ Thanks Deborah for publishing this article. I look forward to adding more. Alex

    Reply
  3. Harsh

    February 4, 2015, 9:48 pm

    I go with you, as you said it is true. It is very good thing about using 3rd party mobile applications as that we can use it with the native application, so it is equivalent of 2 desktop browser.

    Reply
  4. harsh

    February 6, 2015, 1:30 am

    This is an awesome advancement in the communication world, the modern technology keeps the world going.

    Reply
  5. Morgan

    February 20, 2015, 7:49 am

    Thanks for this information, I never think of these benefit from Social network, its better to exploit it than only having fun.

    Reply
    1. admin

      February 22, 2015, 2:49 pm

      I’m glad this helped you, Morgan. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  6. Ernesto

    February 23, 2015, 11:26 pm

    I can only thank these applications for making my foray into the Twitter world more manageable.

    Reply
  7. Jasica Cameron

    March 4, 2015, 1:11 am

    the modern technology keeps the world going it will be advancement in the communication world . thanks for the informative sharing with us !

    Reply
    1. admin

      March 12, 2015, 12:33 pm

      Thanks, Jasica. It is hard to imagine a world without technology, isn’t it?

      Reply
  8. Geremy

    March 10, 2015, 8:38 am

    Really awesome post. Thanks fro sharing

    Reply
  9. CATRINA ELLIOTT

    March 17, 2015, 2:17 pm

    Hi,
    This is such a helpful post . you have done all the hard work to make it easy to understand for all of us. Your hard work is really great it shows your sincerity towards your work .A big thanks to you for sharing such a informative and valuable post .
    Thanks
    Catrina

    Reply
    1. admin

      April 24, 2015, 5:01 pm

      Thanks, Catrina, for the feedback. Yes, Alex did a nice job on this post 🙂 I’m off to visit your site now, too. -Deborah

      Reply
  10. don melendez

    March 22, 2015, 4:55 am

    In the past, the iPhone’s normal Twitter was once a third-party named Tweetie. In 2010, through a corporate acquisition, Twitter rebranded Tweetie as “Twitter for iPhone.” Tweetie also had a desktop client, which Twitter also acquired less than a year later. That version was renamed “Twitter for Mac” and appeared in the new Mac App Store the same day. that reason twiter is third party

    Reply
    1. admin

      April 24, 2015, 4:47 pm

      That is really interesting! Thanks for sharing, Don. I had forgotten about Tweetie and that part of Twitter and Apple history!

      Reply
  11. how to make android app

    March 23, 2015, 2:04 am

    Great article. I have a doubt. How to track third party tools.

    Reply
  12. Maqsood

    April 9, 2015, 7:53 am

    Nice post thanks for sharing. I would like to visit again your website.

    Reply
  13. Syed

    April 18, 2015, 5:32 am

    Very Nicely explained about the 3rd party ! got everything that you wanted us to learn 😉

    Thanks for sharing !

    Reply
  14. Mayank

    April 21, 2015, 8:11 pm

    Great post.
    Very informative and educative post!

    Reply
  15. Md Tanvir Ahmed

    April 25, 2015, 5:13 am

    Many People use Twitter for many reason.
    I use Twitter for Business.
    Hope next post will be on ” Twitter a big Business Palace ”
    And thanks for the nice post.

    Reply
    1. jimmy

      October 4, 2016, 7:06 am

      this is really awesome thanks for such sharings

      Reply
  16. Sreeja

    May 9, 2015, 6:19 am

    Thank you very much for the great artcle.I got useful information about third party tools.

    Reply
  17. webmaster

    May 11, 2015, 2:27 am

    sir/madam
    first of all i would like to thank you for the awesome tool you have provided in the forum.i have also amazing and extra ordinary android apps and iphone apps thats totally free without any charges. funformobile also have amazing wallpapers i hops you will feel happy when visit this site.

    Reply
  18. SmallArc, Inc.

    May 13, 2015, 3:19 am

    Hello Alex Yong,

    This one is great tool about twitter. Really helpful in, if you have a iOS/Mac OS device, add App Store and all.

    Reply
  19. Jon

    May 17, 2015, 11:47 pm

    Thanks for publishing such an helpful post. I would like to visit again.Thanks

    Reply
  20. Jon

    May 17, 2015, 11:49 pm

    Thanks for publishing such an helpful post. I would like to visit again.

    Reply
  21. Android Apps games

    June 25, 2015, 11:22 am

    Nice alternative of Twitter, thanks for your effort admin.

    Reply
  22. Eva

    June 27, 2015, 1:02 am

    Nice Post,
    Thanks for sharing about third party of twitter,In all kind of informaton is such useful for us to in this type of apps.
    Great for this article and keep it up.Thumps up…

    Reply
  23. Aditya Nath Jha

    July 16, 2015, 11:21 pm

    Thanks a lot for this post, I myself use a different app to access twitter on my Android phone as the default app is not much to my liking! 😀

    Reply
  24. Danial

    July 22, 2015, 8:56 am

    Twitter is a strong participant in social media and multimedia also indeed. The power and wish to survive makes everyone struggle up-to their mark and that’s what is happening. Very nice article dear

    Reply
  25. Ramiit Jarhaa

    July 30, 2015, 6:35 am

    Thanks for the first, Its title was very attractive and gives full info about twitter parties. This is awesome tool you have provided.

    Reply
  26. shafat

    August 6, 2015, 1:02 am

    nice post,thank you for sharing us.
    Very informative and educative post!

    Reply
  27. souvik ghosh

    August 13, 2015, 4:03 am

    Thanks for sharing the great article. It is really an great alternative of twitter.

    Reply
  28. Mohit farswan

    August 26, 2015, 4:48 am

    Lovely post admin, Twitter has flexible application programming interface (API) which is now used everywhere and act as a third party. This post is very well written and easily understandable.

    Thank you

    Reply
  29. obat kolesterol tinggi

    August 28, 2015, 6:39 pm

    Thanks for sharing about third party of twitter,In all kind of informaton is such useful for us to in this type of apps.
    i like that

    Reply
  30. Khan

    September 4, 2015, 9:13 pm

    Thanks Alex for this great post.Its my first time to know about third party apps.

    Reply
  31. Pawan Kumar

    September 7, 2015, 3:14 am

    Hey Alex, I totally agree with the fact you enclosed above. Twitter’s default app isn’t that good. So, my personal favorite is TweetCast.. It is free and works great on my Nexus.. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this valuable info.

    Reply
  32. clearwatersolutions

    September 16, 2015, 10:44 pm

    Yes, Twitter is best solution for social meadia. I like twitter for social sharing and marketing.

    Reply
  33. rajesh

    September 21, 2015, 9:13 pm

    Oh yes, I love your articles

    Reply
  34. Travel Tips For Men

    September 23, 2015, 1:28 pm

    Traffic-wise most social media is nonsense. Seo is above it all.

    Reply
  35. kumar

    September 26, 2015, 5:16 am

    Hi,
    it is very informative article and useful too and i actually enjoyed reading it thank you for sharing this article.

    Reply
  36. Reusable k cup 2.0

    November 15, 2015, 9:01 am

    This blog is too much information to use another way of twitter.really such a important post.
    Thanks for the information.

    Reply
  37. anchal joshi

    December 30, 2015, 6:19 am

    Even I was wondering that from a very long. Well at last this article has cleared the air in my head. Thanks for helping out.

    Reply
  38. David

    January 6, 2016, 4:29 am

    Thanks for sharing this very informative post. I find this info very helpful.

    Reply
  39. Rubiwo

    January 14, 2016, 2:08 am

    What a helpful post, i got useful information’s.

    Reply
  40. chandu sahu

    January 15, 2016, 11:39 am

    Yes thanks for sharing such kind of information…

    Reply
  41. prashant adhikari

    January 25, 2016, 6:55 am

    That is so amazing.I am really surprised. I hadn’t thought of Twitter as a big party. Thanks for sharing this awesome stuff with us.

    Reply
  42. Crestinfotech

    February 2, 2016, 9:11 am

    Twitter is leading Social Media platform and it is lots of help in all form..

    Reply
  43. App Buzz

    February 3, 2016, 1:36 am

    you have great post and great hard work and very infroiamtive nice post

    Reply
  44. Manoj

    February 10, 2016, 11:25 pm

    Nice post, I would like to know, if using third party application won’t create a way for the hackers to access our data in mobile?

    Reply
    1. deborah

      March 2, 2017, 10:34 pm

      That is an easy answer and yet “not” an easy answer. As long as hackers exist, there are risks that hackers will gain access, regardless of whether you use mobile, a desktop computer, or other technology. The question is not whether it can occur, but the probability of whether it will happen and how that probability affects your decision. If you truly want to be safe, then you would want to choose not to use these third party apps. However, that principle applies to life, too. For example, if you wanted to increase the odds of not having someone break into your home while you are away, then minimize the amount of time that you leave your home. It doesn’t guarantee that nothing will happen but minimizes the odds for those who are affected by homes that are vacant, as far as the decision to break in or not. Do you see my point here?

      Reply
  45. Aliyan

    February 15, 2016, 2:40 pm

    Twitter is one of the best social media network its have millions of user all around the world. Thanks for this post.

    Reply
  46. kannan

    February 20, 2016, 1:52 am

    Twitter is the part of the world social media and other goodies…

    Reply
  47. vshare

    February 22, 2016, 10:30 am

    good post.. thanks for sharing this info..

    Reply
  48. Sophia

    March 1, 2016, 5:47 am

    Great post. There are a lot of things we can discover on Twitter. Thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply
  49. onhx

    March 1, 2016, 12:02 pm

    I read this piece of writing completely concerning the difference of newest and previous technologies and well as twitter is best sites to make parties and bang on

    Reply
    1. deborah

      March 2, 2017, 10:25 pm

      Thank you. And, good to hear about your experience with Twitter and related technologies. Interesting interpretation with the “…make parties and bang…” I guess Twitter could be used in a party or multiple parties, eh?

      Reply
  50. Hamdani Saad

    April 13, 2016, 9:39 pm

    Thanks for this interesting post.
    I access Twitter on my phone.

    Reply
  51. Android Apps games

    April 20, 2016, 4:23 am

    This is really great information you shared here with us. Your research and collection of information is really appreciable. I hope that you will come with more latest and useful information in future as well. Thanks for sharing such a incredible post.

    Reply
  52. Priya Patel

    April 22, 2016, 5:18 am

    I have read your post, its really very nice.

    Thanks for sharing your thought with us. 🙂

    Reply
  53. sarainodu

    April 25, 2016, 3:36 am

    boss.. it’s really a nice site and happy for the article. thank you so much

    Reply
  54. anderson

    May 31, 2016, 12:42 pm

    awesome blog, thanks for sharing an amazing information.

    Reply
  55. Paventhan

    June 2, 2016, 11:57 am

    Thanks a lot…i have never used Twitter …but i will use now..

    Reply
  56. sahid khan

    June 4, 2016, 1:24 pm

    So happy to find good place to many here in the post, the writing is just great, thanks for the post.

    Reply
  57. ISeenLab

    June 7, 2016, 12:24 pm

    hanks a lot for this post, I myself use a different app to access twitter on my Android phone as the default app is not much to my liking!

    Thanks again for innovative explaination

    Reply
  58. Apps shop

    June 14, 2016, 12:02 am

    Thanks for sharing such outstanding and an enthusiastic information with us regarding alternative of twitter. Your research and collection of information is really exceptional. The article covers full of great knowledge and well authored. Useful sharing!

    Reply
  59. Iman

    July 23, 2016, 2:15 am

    Thanks for Sharing This kind of information.. we all hearing new of this.. keep share new things..

    Reply
  60. Robbin

    August 22, 2016, 4:32 am

    Thank you, Alex for sharing this great information with us and personally, I have never heard about this twitter third party.

    Reply
  61. kamaraj

    August 24, 2016, 6:10 am

    The post is amazing and good and really useful for the social information to store and retrive the information in the social sites .

    Reply
  62. Top Salon in Delhi

    August 24, 2016, 11:42 pm

    very nice post

    Reply
  63. toos

    September 27, 2016, 7:05 am

    thanks for sharing this great information for us.

    Reply
  64. Hamdani Saad

    September 29, 2016, 10:58 am

    Is third party tools are safe ?

    Reply
  65. fantastic dude

    October 24, 2016, 4:54 am

    Really good information for us about third party authentication on twitter thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  66. Bryan

    March 19, 2017, 11:35 pm

    It was really a nice article, thanks for sharing such an informative article.

    Reply
    1. Deborah Anderson

      June 7, 2017, 3:54 am

      Hello, Bryan. On behalf of our wonderful guest author, thanks for the compliment.

      Reply
  67. apental

    July 14, 2017, 1:22 am

    wow this is really nice and cool

    Reply
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