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Twitter breaks old clients with OAuth update

Michael Gaines | September 1, 2010 | no comments

Did your Twitter client all of a sudden break in the last day? It’s because Twitter changed their authentication from Basic Authentication to OAuth. This cuts down on the time it takes for the client app to work since it only has to authorize the app once, whereas Basic Authentication had to send the username/password every time. Also, it gives you the ability to check which services you authenticate on your Twitter account by going under the Connections setting.

So far, I’ve read that older versions of Tweetie, Twitterific, and Echofon are failing, as well as apps for Blackberry.

If your app isn’t working, update it. It’s possible that a new version has the new OAuth system in it. If the latest version doesn’t work, you’re going to have to use a new app. Developers have had this information long enough where they should have updated their apps by now.

You can read more on the Twitter Blog.

Tags: basic authentication, oauth, Security, Twitter

Category: Social Media

About the Author: Michael Gaines started being a geek at a very young age. Starting with tape recorders and TI calculators, he was armed with the tools to be creative with electronics long before most people knew what a modem was. His parents were teachers which gave him the the rare super power of teaching people how to understand the devices they're using. In college, he was a DJ at the school's radio station, and tech editor of the college newspaper. His fondness for spreading his knowledge throughout the universe has spread to the internet where he works on two podcasts: Geekistry, World Of Warcast. Until humans can reach past Earth, he currently resides in New Jersey, writing and podcasting about the many things that help teach how things work.