Twitter Bringing Mac App Back Using Apple's Project Catalyst

Apple last week unveiled Project Catalyst, an initiative designed to allow developers to port their iPad apps to the Mac.

At the time, Apple named several partners, including Twitter, and today, Twitter provided more detail on its upcoming Mac app.

twitterformac
Twitter says that it will leverage its existing iOS codebase to bring Twitter to the Mac, but will add native Mac features on top of its existing ‌iPad‌ experience to make the app better suited for the Mac.

We are excited that Project Catalyst will enable us to bring Twitter back to the Mac by leveraging our existing iOS codebase. We'll also be able to add native Mac features on top of our existing iPad experience, while keeping our maintenance efficient as we continue to improve this shared codebase in the years to come.

Twitter previously had a Twitter for Mac app that was discontinued in February 2018 with Twitter directing Mac users to instead use the Twitter for web experience.

The prior Twitter for Mac app never received much attention for Twitter. In 2015, the company said that it would refocus its efforts on building new features into the Mac app, but even after new features were added, the app didn't catch on and earned largely negative reviews in the App Store.

According to Twitter, the prior version of the Mac app was discontinued because it was not sustainable to maintain two separate codebases. Twitter wanted to focus on web and mobile instead of Mac, but with the new Twitter for Mac able to use the existing iOS codebase, there's less work to be done to make a Mac app available.

The new Twitter for Mac app will use our existing iOS codebase, rather than being built from a separate codebase, following the same successful strategy we've used with Web to expand our supported clients. By supporting key Mac-specific behaviors on top of our iOS code, we will be able to maintain feature parity across our iOS and Mac apps with relatively low long term maintenance costs.

Twitter says the upcoming Mac app will have full feature parity with other Twitter platforms plus additional changes like resizable windows with dynamic content, multiple windows support, native notifications, drag and drop, and keyboard support.

Tag: Twitter

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
63 months ago
It still blows my mind that a company as big as Twitter couldn't keep their Mac app up-to-date without Catalyst as a crutch, when single developers can keep (far superior!) apps like Tweetbot, Twitterific and so on updated without a problem.

Corporate politics is weird.
[doublepost=1560550807][/doublepost]
just buy the tapbot guys and have them work on the mac/ios version
The current Twitter app is the result of Twitter acquiring Tweetie, another third party app from about a decade ago. They took a fairly streamlined and fast-performing app and turned it into the bloated mess that it is today.

So they'd just be repeating that if they did that. Leave Tweetbot alone. It's already been crippled enough by the API changes.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rcooked Avatar
63 months ago
What’s the timeframe on releasing this?
2056
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
63 months ago
ARM Macs are coming people. This is the first step in enticing developers to get ARM-based Apps onto x86 machines, so why not vice versa?
They just released a $6000 professional Mac using high end Intel Xeon CPUs, and have forked iOS for the iPad as "iPadOS" to show they're going to take the iPad in a different direction.

At this point I doubt ARM Macs are coming, and Apple is just going to reposition the iPad to be a more capable laptop substitue for low-end users, and keep Intel Macs around for developers, power users and pros.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yoz-y Avatar
63 months ago
definitely. There's no need for an app on either iOS or Mac or PC for something as rudimentary as Twitter blogging.
Website is fine. I guess developers like apps cuz they let them track the heck out of you
Any half decent app performs miles better than a website. And eats less battery.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
63 months ago
ARM Macs are coming people. This is the first step in enticing developers to get ARM-based Apps onto x86 machines, so why not vice versa?
I don't know why people keep assuming Marzipan has anything at all to do with CPU architectures.

UIKit has always run on x86 (the iOS Simulator does precisely that), nor is there a reason to assume AppKit wouldn't run on ARM.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
63 months ago
Screw Twitter,.

Cesspool of hate and banality.

Traitor to developers who built the early innovations in the early years.

Had a garbage app on the Mac. Then abandoned the platform after years of disinterest.

And now we are now supposed to welcome them back after they got a free ride from Apple.

Screw Twitter.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...