After discontinuing Twitter for Mac this week, Twitter (formally often called X) has now enabled help for working the unmodified iPad app on Apple Silicon Macs, a characteristic that debuted with macOS Massive Sur. Though the app initially had an issue the place customers would get suspended for utilizing it, plainly the app is now protected to make use of.
Twitter for Mac (Catalyst)
Twitter for Mac initially debuted in 2019 alongside Apple’s new Catalyst framework in macOS Catalina. Though this wasn’t the primary model of Twitter for Mac, this model was distinctive as a result of Catalyst allowed Twitter’s engineers to make the most of many of the codebase from the iOS app, and there aren’t a ton of modifications required for macOS compatibility. Nonetheless, after Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, improvement on Twitter for Mac utterly stopped.
This meant that the app grew to become increasingly more out of contact with the remainder of Twitter, each for higher and for worse. Annoyingly, it meant you’d need to open the net app should you wished to learn posts over 280 characters. On the plus facet, it additionally meant that you just weren’t pressured to make use of the brand new For You web page. Outdated Twitter for Mac additionally has no help for any type of verification, as all “legacy” checkmarks had been eliminated in April 2023, and the app by no means obtained help for Twitter Blue.
After practically two years of no updates, the app was lastly eliminated from the App Retailer this week, with a popup forcing individuals to get off the app. In actuality you may merely shut this popup and proceed utilizing the app if you want, however it’s now clear that the outdated Catalyst app isn’t going to be supported anymore. Shortly after its elimination, the iPad app confirmed up on the Mac App Retailer.
iPad apps on Apple Silicon Macs
When Apple introduced the Mac transition to Apple Silicon at WWDC 2020, they introduced that Apple Silicon Macs would be capable to run any iPhone or iPad app, so long as the developer doesn’t choose out. Sadly, many of the large builders opted out. There have been some workarounds to sideload iOS apps onto your Mac, however they didn’t constantly work.
In contrast to Catalyst, no modification is required to get your iPad app on the Mac App Retailer, since Apple Silicon Macs help all iOS frameworks. Though an ideal expertise isn’t assured immediately, it ought to typically be fairly secure. iPad apps on Apple Silicon Macs are a good way for smaller groups to natively help the Mac with no need to dedicate any vital period of time to it, which is probably going essential to the X engineering staff after a lot of layoffs occurred over the course of late 2022 and early 2023.
X for iPad (working on Mac)
The iPad app working in your Mac is just about what you’d anticipate. It’s a really iPad feeling expertise, annd in contrast to the net app, it doesn’t make the most of a ton of assets. It additionally correctly helps push notifications, which has by no means labored constantly for me on the internet app.
The outdated Twitter for Mac app grew to become fairly buggy over time, primarily as a result of it wasn’t actively up to date and have become increasingly more out of sync with backend server adjustments. For instance, profile banners would now not load, trying to find tweets would by no means yield any outcomes, and typically the app would straight up freeze on you.
With the brand new iPad app expertise, you’ll be capable to make the most of the previous 2 years of Twitter adjustments, for higher and for worse. Options like bookmark search, X Articles, Creator Subscriptions, replies/reactions in DMs, and the entire customization options of X Premium are actually out there natively in your Mac.
That being mentioned, the iPad app isn’t good. As identified by my colleague Zac, the brand new iPad app doesn’t help timeline streaming. With the outdated Mac app, you might hold your timeline pinned to the highest, and new tweets would simply present up as they had been made, with no need to actively work together with the app. Moreover, many interactions that you just’d anticipate to be behind a proper click on are literally behind an extended press, which isn’t what you’d anticipate on a Mac. There’s additionally a bug the place typing into the search bar gained’t truly present what you’re typing, though it’s attainable that’s brought on by the macOS Sequoia beta.
Wrap Up
Total, it’d be higher if there was a very optimized Mac app once more for X. Though, I’m glad that I now not need to cope with the poorly optimized net app that’d use 1-2gb of RAM per tab, even in Safari.
Additionally, the suspension concern is value mentioning. It’s fairly weird that this “bug” even occurred, however not less than the misguided suspensions had been mounted inside 24 hours. I don’t absolutely perceive how they launched this app with none of the staff logging into it first, however it’s what it’s.
Are you proud of this new X for iPad app on Apple Silicon Macs? Have been you personally impacted the suspension drawback? Tell us how you’re feeling within the feedback.
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