Going, going, going, gone. The popular (and well established) Twitter client for Windows Phone is being pulled and support discontinued, according to a team blog post over on the developer's website. Development has been slow and updates pushed back, but light was at the end of the tunnel when Red Badger tasked an intern developer with the Windows Phone app to bring new features and functionality to the table.
It's a shame to see the app finally retire from service, but it's understandable with the lack of progress. So what's caused Red Badger to decide on disbanding Bridsong for Windows Phone?
The team goes into the app's history, which was developed on pre-release hardware back in 2010. Birdsong quickly became the top ranked Twitter client in 91% of supported markets, as well as the number one commercial social app in 51% of available markets. It was quite an experience, one which many consumers grew accustomed to. So what changed?
The developer has decided to pull the app before the next change in Twitter API renders it unusable, which is an issue Twitter clients have to keep on top of often. Twitter itself is reportedly half the problem since the company has decided to make it more difficult for developers to build and maintain top quality clients. We've touched on this issue in the past, and also covers the constant API alterations(and restrictions in place).
The second half of the reasoning behind the removal of Birdsong is the platform. The team reports that the Windows Phone Store hasn't quite proven itself as a financially viable marketplace to be involved in. Revenue versus cost of development and hosting the push service wasn't possible to maintain. We'll not judge a company on its decisions and will reserve judgement for those who are engaged in active development to offer opinion on whether this is the case.
It's not known if Red Badger will come back to Windows Phone to pick up where the company left off in the near future, but with Windows 8 more connected to Windows Phone than ever, it may be a difficult mobile platform to resist. To wrap-up, the blog post closes with a recommendation for users to look at Rowi.
Source: Red Badger
