The popular third-party Twitter client, Tweetbot, received a notable update today with a handful of new features and a change in its business model. Tapbots states that downloading Tweetbot 6 is free, with an in-app subscription available to unlock the app’s core functionality. The promise is that the subscription price will guarantee regular updates in the future.
The staff of MacStories were the first to cover the launch of Tweetbot 6 this afternoon. The launch is a brand new app, so if you’ve already purchased Tweetbot, you’ll need to download the app from the App Store again and sign up for the in-app subscription.
The subscription price is reasonable, $ 0.99 per month or $ 5.99 annually, and the subscription is required to access the main functionality, including the ability to actually send tweets. Without the in-app subscription, Tweetbot is essentially a read-only Twitter client.
In addition to the change to the subscription price, Tweetbot 6 includes a handful of new features. There are some interface tweaks in the timeline, as well as support for the latest version of the Twitter API. The new Twitter API includes support for polls and also cards.
Other changes and improvements in Tweetbot 6 include three new application icons, new light and dark themes to choose from, improvements in dark mode and support for Chrome and Firefox to open URLs. MacStories Notes, the update also drops support using other services for URL reduction, image and video uploads.
As with any application switching to subscriptions, the promise is that the stability of the regular revenue provided by a subscription can help with long-term development. It’s up to the people at Tapbots to prove it, so only time will tell. Ideally, Twitter will also continue to make improvements to its API in the meantime.
Tweetbot 6 is available on the App Store as a free download, but again, an in-app subscription is required to access the core functionality of the social network. There is a free one-week trial. As of now, this subscription does not extend to the Mac version of the application.
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